Low Temperature Polysilicon (LTPS) TFT LCD, which is rapidly emerging as the hottest item in the small and medium-size display market, is attracting massive investments at home and abroad.
According to industrial sources yesterday, with Japanese and Taiwanese firms in the vanguard, companies are increasing their investment in LTPS lines. To keep abreast, domestic companies are gearing up to secure related technologies preparing to jump into the market.
Having already invested $380 million in its LTPS line last year, Toshiba has poured in double the last year`s investment for the line since the beginning of this year.
The company used to alter its a-Si TFT LCD line into LTPS line. But AFPD, a venture it jointly founded with Matsushita early this year, is planning to invest $ 1 billion and provide 730x920mm glass substrates for its Singapore production line starting the second half of next year.
Toshiba aims to raise LTPS share of its total LCD products from the current 30% to over 60% by 2003. Buoyed by the last year`s big success in providing its LTPS components for Compaq`s PDAs, STLCD, a joint venture between Sony and Toyota, is planning to invest $700 million in building its second LTPS product line, which will start volume production from June next year.
For the line, the company plans to provide 20,000 600x720mm glass substrates every month. NEC, which recently gave up its large-size display production, will convert its Akita plant into a LTPS line.
Mitsubishi will also alter its subsidiary`s (ADI) production line to produce LTPS displays. In addition, other companies including Hitachi, Seiko-Epson, and Sanyo have recently announced expansion of their LTPS lines.
Taiwan`s Toppoly Optoelectronics is planning to construct a LTPS factory in Junan (processing 30,000 620x750mm substrates a month) and start volume production starting June next year. Acer Display Technology (ADT) has recently announced its investment plan worth $1 billion for its LTPS and OELD lines.
Meanwhile, domestic LCD producers, which have been keeping a `wait-and-see` attitude, are now starting to increase their investments in the LTPS sector.
The soaring investment by foreign companies in small and medium-size displays can be attributed to the Korean firms` dominance in the large-size display market. This means that Korean LCD producers can take their time in increasing their LTPS investment.
However, they should have themselves ready to move into the market anytime as it is clear that more and more LTPS TFT LCDs will be used for the third generation mobile phones and that LTPS TFT technology will play a key role in the active-matrix OELD area.
Samsung Electronics is making trial production of 2.04 inch LTPS products at its Kiheung production line (formerly a-Si line). LG Phillips LCD is also producing 10.4 inch LTPS for aircraft instrument boards in small quantities and plans to make volume production when demand rises.
According to Display Search, out of the total TFT LCD investments, only 24% was made in LTPS lines this year. But it forecast the figure will increase to 61% next year.
Productionwise, a-Si TFT LCD production increased 56% this year and is expected to rise only 31% next year while LTPS TFT LCD, increasing 33% this year, is expected to record 109% and 183% increases in production in 2002 and 2003 respectably.