China's makers have not slowed down the pace of capacity expansion and technology upgrades for AMOLED panels, although its smartphone industry has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the US trade restrictions against Huawei, Digitimes Research has found.
New fabs or expansion projects being carried out in 2020 include a 6G line each by Visionox in Hefei, BOE Technology in Chongqing, and Tianma Microelectronics in Xiamen.
China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) is expected to add a new 6G flexible AMOLED line, to be dubbed t5, along with the existing site of its t4 line in Wuhan.
Two other smaller makers Everdisplay Optronics and Royole are planning to issue IPOs to raise additional funds to finance their respective expansion projects.
Since Samsung Display has adopted an aggressive pricing strategy to promote its rigid AMOLED displays in the smartphone sector, China's panel makers have switched their AMOLED to roll out products for wearable or flexible applications.
For product upgrades, Chinese panel makers are likely to develop rollable AMOLED panels targeting domestic and overseas sales. LG Display may prioritize its supply of flexible AMOLED panels to Apple in 2021 but may purchase rollable AMOLED applications from BOE Technology. Oppo may launch rollable smartphones built using rollable AMOLED panels from CSOT in the coming year.