Korean display equipment makers have entered the supply chain for China's CSOT and its Gen 8.6 inkjet-printed OLED line.
According to ChinaBidding, a Chinese site that publishes tender results, CSOT on the 8th named Hanwha Momentum, Sunjae Hi-Tech, Nanotech, and Seyang Electronics as sole bidders. Each will supply one type of equipment for the Gen 8.6 inkjet OLED line:
● Hanwha Momentum: thin-film transistor (TFT) heat-treatment equipment.
● Sunjae Hi-Tech: X-ray static eliminators.
● Nanotech: dry end point detection (EPD) equipment.
● Seyang Electronics: mask cleaners.
CSOT negotiates with vendors, picks a winner, and only then posts the sole awardee on ChinaBidding. The companies selected are therefore understood to have locked in their equipment deliveries.
CSOT is building a fab in Guangzhou to produce Gen 8.6 OLED panels (2,290mm × 2,620mm) by inkjet printing. The fab will have a capacity of 22,500 mother glass sheets per month, with mass production targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027. It will make panels for IT devices such as laptops and monitors. CSOT has finished construction and recently began moving in equipment.
Inkjet printing (IJP) forms pixels differently from conventional OLED manufacturing. The conventional method heats organic materials in a vacuum and deposits them to form the emissive layer. IJP instead sprays organic material through nozzles, much like a printer, to create each pixel.
Apart from that pixel-forming step, the rest of the display manufacturing process is shared. This gives established equipment makers a chance to break in.
Korean equipment makers see CSOT's Gen 8.6 orders as a chance to defend their business in a display market expected to stay quiet for a while. Chinese panel makers have also turned cautious about new investment amid an uncertain market, so opportunities to supply equipment are becoming scarce. Counterpoint Research forecasts that global display equipment investment will fall 49% next year from this year.
“After the Gen 8.6 investments now underway at BOE, Visionox, and CSOT, it won't be easy to find more openings in China,” an industry official said. “It has become important to seize the limited chances available and build up order backlogs.”
