While mini RGB LED fine-pitch displays have begun to come into commercial use, they still technological difficulties in chip mass transfer, precise placement, yield rate and repair.

Fitipower Integrated Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) specializing in LCD driver ICs, started trading on the mainboard of the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) on October 17 with an initial price of NT$33 (US$1.07) per unit.

Chipbond Technology has entered the supply chain for Huawei's smartphones by providing chip-on-film (COF) packaging for OLED panel driver ICs, according to industry sources.

In the IoT era, e-paper solutions could turn out to be the most competitive display products for terminal-end devices, according to Frank Ko, chairman and CEO of e-paper solution provider E Ink Holding (EIH).

The development of mini RGB LED technology is now being considered the next-generation display technology as mini LED applications are different from the general LED display products, and offer better image quality.

PMOLED panel maker WiseChip Semiconductor has reported revenues of NT$140.61 million (US$4.54 million) for September, down 2.78% on month and 29.11% on year.

Advantech has announced it will spend NT$200 million (US$6.41 million) acquiring a 15% stake in touch panel maker Mildex Optical, an equivalent to 15.71 million shares, from Panjit International.

E-paper solution provider E Ink Holdings (EIH) has reported revenues of NT$1.298 billion (US$41.99 million) for September, up 0.05% on month but down 23.1% on year.

LCD panel and module maker Giantplus Technology saw its revenues decline 0.46% on month and 20.26% on year in September. Third-quarter revenues came to NT$2.618 billion, decreasing 1.02% sequentially.

Backlight unit (BLU) provider Coretronic has reported revenues of NT$5.028 billion (US$161.43 million) for September, down 0.2% on month and 1% on year.

Touch panel maker General Interface Solution (GIS) has reported revenues of NT$14.445 billion (US$467.56 million) for September, up 63.59% on month but down 9.59% on year. Third-quarter revenues came to NT$31.317 billion, up 33.13% on quarter but down 27.21% on year.

A US$100 million tinting glass manufacturing plant invested by US-based Kinestral Technologies in Miaoli, western Taiwan, has kicked off commercial operations with a production capacity of 200,000 square feet of tinting glass a year initially.

Touch panel maker TPK Holding has reported revenues of NT$11.312 billion (US$367.18 million) for September, down 2.3% on month but up 5.9% on year. Revenues for the third quarter of 2018 totaled NT$32.192 billion, increasing 81% on quarter and 5.5% on year.

Mini LED is beginning to be used in high-end devices and stands a chance of replacing existing LED backlighting in the future mainly because of its simpler structure and material, according to David Su, chairman of Lextar Electronics.

Backlight unit (BLU) provider Coretronic has reported revenues of NT$5.038 billion (US$163.45 million) for August, up 3% on month and 9% on year. Year-to-date revenues totaled NT$36.23 billion, increasing 10% from a year earlier.

E-paper solution provider E Ink Holdings (EIH) has teamed up with Fujitsu Semiconductor to develop a reference design board for battery-less e-paper labels, according a joint announcement of the companies.

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics both have stepped up efforts to develop micro LED TVs but with different approaches as they move to further enhance their deployments in the large-size TV segments, according to industry sources.

Samsung Electronics will offer a 75-inch MicroLED TV in 2019 with the display panel to be made up of 30- by 50-micron micro LED chips produced by PlayNitide, according to industry sources.

Touch panel maker General Interface Solution (GIS) has reported revenues of NT$8.83 billion (US$286.69 million) for August, up 9.79% on month but down 37.42% on year.

Touch panel maker TPK Holding has reported consolidated revenues of NT$11.57 billion (US$375.5 million) for August, up 24.4% on month and 12.9% on year.

Touch panel solution provider Young Fast Optoelectronics expects its core business to swing back to profits in the second half of 2018 as it is enhancing its presence in the industrial control- and medical equipment-use panel segments, according to company president Hsu Yi-chuan.

Touch panel supplier General Interface Solution (GIS) is expected to kick off shipments of its third-generation ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensors in the second half of 2018 for premium smartphone models be launched in 2019, according to company chairman Chou Hsien-ying

E-paper solution provider E Ink Holdings (EIH) has been enriching its portfolios for IoT applications, expecting to ramp up IoT revenues to account for 50% of its total revenues in 3-5 years, according to company chairman Frank Ko.

Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen demand for TVs and set-top boxes (STB) pick up, and are expected to enjoy more than 20% sequential growth in their shipments of TV-related chips in the third quarter of 2018, according to industry sources.

Optoelectronics and Si-based semiconductor are the two major pillars of Taiwan's hi-tech industry and major growth engine for the country's economy, and the Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA) will move to promote the X-on-silicon concept seeking to extend the applications...