Taimide Technology Inc (達邁科技) yesterday launched a new production line in Miaoli County, boosting its polyimide (PI) film capacity by 40 percent as it targets the growing demand for 5G foldable smartphones.
Taimide spent NT$1.8 billion (US$58.8 million), its biggest ever investment, building a new production line in Tongluo Industrial Park (銅鑼園區), as well as a research-and-development center.
The new production line is to add 600 tonnes of PI film to the company’s existing capacity of 1,500 tonnes a year, helping fuel revenue growth momentum, a Hsinchu Science Park Administration statement said.
Photo: Cho Yi-chun, Taipei Times
Fifteen companies have invested NT$112.61 billion to set up factories in the industrial park, which is part of the Hsinchu Science Park, the administration said.
About 65 percent of the PI film produced by Taimide is used to make flexible printed circuit boards that are used in a wide range of electronic products such as smartphones, wearable devices and laptops, as well as the automotive sector, the company said.
The company has developed a new optical-level colorless PI film that can be used in flexible OLED displays for foldable smartphones and other flexible displays, it said.
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Samsung Electronics Co have taken the lead in rolling out foldable smartphones this year and other handset brands are expected to follow suit, Taimide chairman Wu Sheng-chang (吳聲昌) said.
Taimide expects 5G smartphones to be a new growth driver for its revenue, Wu said.
The company has previously said that high-end smartphones consume 20 to 30 percent more PI film than mid to low-end smartphones.
Taimide expects to return to revenue growth next year as it benefits from the increased capacity and a broader product portfolio, the Central News Agency reported.
Taimide posted revenue of NT$1.33 billion in the first nine months of this year, down 24.7 percent from NT$1.77 billion in the same period last year.
The company attributed the decline to a prolonged US-China trade dispute, which has curtailed the sales of smartphones and other electronic products.
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