Sollink Inc (高強光電), a display manufacturing subsidiary of electronic component maker Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co (Foxlink, 正崴), said yesterday it would soon make its first shipment of next-generation handset displays using Qualcomm Inc technologies.
Foxlink invested NT$500 million (US$15.18 million) to set up Sollink last year.
It plans to invest NT$30 billion on building plants, with the first being a 4.5-generation (4.5G) plant, the Science Park Administration in Hsinchu said.
PHOTO: MAURICE TSAI, BLOOMBERG
In March, Sollink produced the first display using the so-called mirasol technology from Qualcomm MEMS, a fully owned display subsidiary of US handset chipmaker Qualcomm.
The display’s nature-based design results in low energy consumption and high reflectivity, offering consumers extended battery life and superior outdoor visibility, Sollink said.
A mirasol display consumes 40 percent less energy than a comparable liquid-crystal display, it said.
The potential market for such energy-efficient displays could be as high as US$11 billion a year, Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs has said.
Mirasol and similar displays would be suitable for mobile devices including handsets, portable navigation devices and portable multimedia players as well as electronic readers, he said.
“We just started a test run of the plant. We don’t expect the plant will have significant contribution [to our revenues] until we reach economic scale by building our second, or third plants,” Foxlink and Sollink chairman Gou Tai-chiang (郭台強) said.
Foxlink wants to form a long-term partnership with Qualcomm and Sollink was the first step, Gou said.
Foxlink wants to become an electronic component supplier to Qualcomm in several areas, including communications products and smartbooks, he said.
Chinese electronics maker Hisense Group (海信集團) and local mobile phone makers Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Pub Co Ltd (泰金寶) — a subsidiary of local electronics group Kinpo Group (金仁寶集團) — and Inventec Corp (英業達) are planning to use mirasol displays for their mobile devices, Sollink said.
“We expect the new mirasol displays to be shipped with Foxlink’s products in the near term,” James Lee (李政), a Foxlink board member, told a press briefing yesterday. “That will be a 1.43-inch display for ultra-slim mobile phones with thickness of 7mm.”
Shares of Foxlink declined 4.26 percent to NT$48.4 yesterday, underperforming the benchmark TAIEX, which fell 3.45 percent.
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