Emerging Display Technologies (EDT) has announced revenues of NT$382 million (US$12.04 million) for August 2010, increasing about 11% sequentially and 62% on year. Accumulated revenues for January-August reached NT$2.48 billion, up 48% on year.
Strong touch panel market demand is driving small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panel makers to shift their focus to touch panels. Giantplus Technology has established a touch panel business unit to focus on touch panel products and business development, with a touch panel production line scheduled to go online in October. Meanwhile, EDT is setting up its second touch panel production line which is scheduled to start volume production at the end of the first quarter of 2011.
Giantplus' Toufen plant is schedule to start trial production in October and some of the capacity is scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter, mainly to supply China's white-box handset demand. The new touch module production plant in Kunshan, China is schedule to start equipment installation at the end of 2010 and trial production in 2011. Giantplus is now cooperating with handset vendors to develop touch panels and expects to start shipments at the beginning of 2011.
EDT has recently announced plans to set up a second capacitive touch panel production line and is scheduled to start volume production in the first quarter of 2011. EDT's touch panel capacity is expected to double to an equivalent of 1.2 million 3.5-inch touch panels, from the current 600,000 units.
Touch panel revenues of EDT are expected to account for 15% of its total revenues in September amid increasing utilization rates at its first touch panel production line due to increasing shipments of touch panels for 7-inch tablet PCs from a US-based vendor. Touch panels are expected to account for 20% of EDT's total revenues in the fourth quarter.
Article translated by Yvonne Yu
