"Folding screens are becoming the biggest outlet for smartphones in 2022!" Recently, the electronic analysis of major securities companies has frequently issued research reports, predicting this trend.
Just in the last month of 2021, OPPO released its first folding screen mobile phone, Find N. Subsequently, Huawei launched the vertical folding screen flagship mobile phone P50Pocket treasure box, and Honor also brought the "one-step" folding phone Magic V.
Huawei vertical folding screen flagship phone P50Pocket treasure box, source: Huawei official website
Honor folding phone Magic V, image source: Honor official website
Folding the first year, this time really came!
The real driver behind this mobile phone revolution is the screen manufacturer, who has solved the core technical problem - flexible AMOLED folding screen. Like the transition from keyboard to touchscreen, the smartphone form has once again opened up a new world.
Visionox flexible AMOLED 360 degree folding terminal
Different from the past, domestic manufacturers have departed from the previous generation of LCD technology introduction, digestion, absorption and then innovation follow the strategy, in the OLED era, through advanced prejudgment, independent innovation and firm adherence, domestic manufacturers have achieved a "China-South Korea confrontation" market pattern.
Among domestic manufacturers, Visionox has become a typical representative of independent innovation in the OLED industry. Compared with BOE and Huaxing Optoelectronics, which are more than 90% of the main business of LCD business, and have experienced more than ten years of capacity accumulation to be realized, Visionox has been ahead of expectations and laid out more futuristic OLED display technology as early as 20 years ago, which once made many people wonder.
As for whether this insistence is worth it, the folding tide of the mobile phone industry has given a positive answer. Imagine if it were not for the advance layout, the situation of today's court confrontation would no longer exist.
University laboratories to industrialization of 20 years of tough battles
As we all know, since the 90s, the domestic display panel industry has experienced several rounds of technology and market cycles. This includes the unremitting efforts of manufacturers such as Visionox, BOE, Shentianma, TCL Huaxing and other manufacturers for many years, basically realizing the independent control of the supply chain.
However, the starting path of these enterprises is very different. Compared with the "market followers" of BOE and Shenzhen Tianma, which originated from the restructuring of state-owned enterprises and the market-oriented transformation into the panel industry, Visionox is regarded as starting from the "academic school".
When it comes to the history of Visionox's start-up, we must start from the OLED project team of Tsinghua University in the 1990s. At that time, the project team was based on a second-hand coating machine in the laboratory to conduct basic research from light-emitting devices. At that time, the research of this technology by well-known international companies including Kodak, Sony, Fuji Electric, and Japanese Pioneer was also in its infancy, but with the development of the industry, these large companies have withdrawn from the OLED process.
The reason for the withdrawal is also very simple, in addition to OLED, PDP, FED and other display technologies are also hot spots in research, when no one dared to predict that in a few years, OLED will become the mainstream display technology. However, the OLED project team of Tsinghua University has made forward-looking predictions based on scientific mechanisms, and has laid out towards the goal of "industrialization" from the beginning.
In 2001, in order to promote oled technology to take the first step in industrialization, Visionox was registered! This also opens up the innovative practice of "an industrialization road forward".
Starting at the same time as large international companies, and starting from basic research and mastering the most essential understanding of OLED, Visionox made Chinese mainland panel display gain the right to speak internationally for the first time. In 2002, the development of global OLED standards was officially put on the agenda. Then in 2010, the FLEXIBLE Device Working Group (WG8) under the Technical Committee of ELECTRONIC DISPLAY Devices of IEC/TC 110 International Electrotechnical Commission was formally established, representing that the display industry is about to enter the era of flexible display from flat panel display. Subsequently, in 2002 and 2012, Visionox became the first company to represent China in the development of oled international standards and flexible display international standards.
During this period, in addition to promoting the process of industrial standards, rooted in the advantages of Tsinghua's basic research, Visionox is also simultaneously industrializing. At the end of 2005, Visionox opened up the "last mile" on the road of industrialization, began to build the first OLED production line in Chinese mainland, entered the global OLED field, and began to maintain the first PMOLED shipment for many years in 2012.
At present, in the four major innovation bases of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Chengdu-Chongqing, Visionox has laid out a G5.5 AMOLED production line, two G6 full-flexible AMOLED production lines, two AMOLED module production lines, and a micro-LED pilot line for future displays, with continuous improvement in production capacity and yield, and rapid expansion of product types.
Based on 20 years of technology accumulation, Visionox flexible OLED products have also created a number of world firsts, including the world's first under-screen camera phone, the world's first 144Hz refresh rate mobile phone, the world's first 165Hz refresh rate mobile phone, the world's first surround screen mobile phone, the world's first flexible wearable mobile phone, the world's first transparent A-pillar car, etc.
Up to now, Visionox has more than 10,000 OLED key patents and participated in the formulation or revision of a number of OLED international, national and industry standards. Standing on the commanding heights of international competition, it has won the right to speak for China's industrial development.
Judging from the achievements of Visionox in the past 20 years, Visionox has successfully predicted the direction of development from PMOLED, to hard-screen AMOLED, to flexible AMOLED, all of which are based on the most essential understanding of OLED and years of accumulation. And in advance layout, and on the road of independent innovation to meet the difficulties, firmly forward, and constantly improve the level of autonomy of the information technology industry, and constantly enhance the confidence and confidence of China's display industry to cope with the uncertainty of the external environment.
Tough and right path: Target the top three in the world
Although this is a relatively clear technical path today, for Visionox, these 20 years have not been so easy. From key equipment and materials to process processes and yields, every step is very difficult.
Li Leiguang, chief analyst of the display industry, said: "From a technical point of view, in the past 20 years, China's LCD panel companies have followed innovation more, basically following the mature technology direction verified by Japan and South Korea, and slowing down the rhythm. And Visionox's involvement in the OLED field and the global OLED industry's starting time is synchronized, starting from 0, it can be said that there is no successful experience to learn from, from materials to devices, from scientific research to pilot, mass production, behind each step of Visionox is countless failures and unremitting persistence. ”
"Not only technology, but also market uncertainty. Whether this road can be followed, when the industry will explode, when it will be recognized by capital and ensure continuous investment, are all pressures on Visionox's management and R&D personnel. Li Leiguang said.
Fortunately, in the past 20 years, Visionox has made correct predictions again and again, and has also "survived" the market uncertainty period.
Standing on the node of 20 years, Visionox once again made its own prediction. At Visionox's 20th anniversary celebration on December 7, 2021, they publicly stated their "medium- and long-term development strategy" for the first time: within five years, the company focused on the emerging olED and Micro-LED display businesses, achieving product capabilities covering full-size applications from small to large, and OLED panel shipments ranked among the top three in the world. Through ten years of efforts, the company has achieved coordinated development of industrial ecology and become a global leader in emerging display industry.
These strategies, in their technical layout, have long been seen. According to the author's understanding, Visionox attaches great importance to oled technology research and development, and currently has core technical advantages in extreme small holes, under-screen cameras, narrow bezels, high refresh rates, folding screens, low power consumption, wide frequency conversion refresh rates, no polarizers, and screen integration. Especially in the field of under-screen photography, Visionox is at the leading level in the industry.
Visionox InV see Pro off-screen camera solution
At present, Visionox has supplied the main models of many brand customers such as Honor, Xiaomi, ZTE, Nubia, Motorola, Lenovo and other brands in the field of smart phones, and supplied a number of mobile phone manufacturers folding products, Honor 60, 50 series, V40, 30Pro, Pro+ series products; the under-screen camera upgrade program has been released, and the application is promoted in the collaboration of terminal manufacturers. In terms of ultra-high refresh rate screen, 165Hz and 144Hz are supplied to Nubia Red Devils and Lenovo Savior game phones.
In the field of smart wear, it has realized the full supply of head brands - fitbit, OPPO, vivo, Huami, Xiaomi and other customers, exclusively for OPPO flexible screen smart watches OPPO Watch and Watch 2 series; exclusive for Huami Amazfit X smart watches; in the first half of this year, Xiaomi bracelet 6, Xiaomi Watch, Vivo Watch, etc.
As the company introduces more brand customers, Visionox's revenue scale has increased significantly in recent years. In the first three quarters of 2021, Visionox achieved operating income of 2.733 billion yuan, of which OLED product revenue was 2.623 billion yuan, an increase of 94.61% year-on-year, and its shipments also ranked among the top four in the world.
Visionox is also making rapid progress in the commissioning of new production lines. Since 2021, the company's controlled Kunshan 5.5 generation production line and Gu'an 6 generation flexible production line production capacity has been continuously released, the yield and utilization rate have been further improved, and the products have continued to be delivered to first-line brand customers, and the shipment volume in the first three quarters has increased by more than 100% year-on-year. In addition, the Hefei 6th generation flexible AMOLED production line and the Guangzhou Zengcheng flexible module line in which it participates have achieved mass production delivery to brand customers, and the production capacity has steadily climbed.
It is worth mentioning that the daily operating orders signed by Visionox and Glory Terminal Co., Ltd. for twelve consecutive months have reached a total of 2.2485 billion yuan, and the products purchased by Glory are mainly shipped by visiono Gu'an 6th generation flexible AMOLED panel production line. Industry insiders pointed out that the orders signed by Visionox with customers for 12 consecutive months fully reflect the release of the production capacity of its various production lines and the improvement of delivery capabilities, which can further consolidate Visionox's market competitive position.
In addition to further enhancing its competitiveness in the field of small-size AMOLED, Visionox is also actively developing its layout in medium-sized applications such as tablets, laptops and vehicles. In the direction of new technology, Chengdu Chenxian Optoelectronics, which the company participated in, has built a Micro LED pilot line, completed the full process of opening up, and has developed the first pixel density of the Chinese mainland 326PPI, 1.84-inch Micro LED wearable samples, and the first high-end TV with splicable Micro-LED single-screen samples, accelerating the improvement of the company's strategic layout in the field of new display industry, and is expected to further enrich the company's product structure in the future.
The application of Visionox flexible screens in electronic products
Today, in order to achieve the goal of the top three flexible screens in the world, Visionox is building a solid small size application field, expanding the new field of medium size application and opening up a large size new track. At present, it has promoted the mass production and application of innovative technologies such as flexible wear, tablet/laptop, and in-vehicle, and continues to explore the application markets such as AR/VR and TV.
At present, no one knows the answer to whether Visionox can achieve the goal, but based on 20 years of technology accumulation, the company has a strong ability to predict the development of the display industry, and has a forward-looking layout of new technologies, new markets, new products, etc. We believe that Visionox, which continues to work hard, can achieve the medium- and long-term goals it has set.
The battle under long-term doctrine leads the next era
At present, the display industry is at the threshold of technological change and evolution, and Visionox has formulated a new development strategy, which is optimistic about the broad market prospects of new display technology.
As we all know, display equipment as a key link in information presentation and human-computer interaction, is one of the most important foundations of the electronic information industry, with the development of electronic products intelligent, flexible, portable, OLED, Micro-LED as the representative of the new display technology is expected to usher in the golden period of industry development.
In the face of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and important opportunities for industrial change in the world, the Chinese government has also issued a number of policies to support the development of new display industries. For example, the "14th Five-Year Plan" display industry plan of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will focus on accelerating the basic research and industrialization process in the fields of full flexible display, micro display, ultra-high definition and other fields, and enhance the core competitiveness of the industry.
As the main force in China's OLED industry for 20 years, Visionox has achieved global debut and catch-up in the fields of new OLED pixel design, off-screen camera technology, high refresh rate technology and international standardization development. However, Visionox, which is rooted in the corporate culture of independent innovation genes, is not satisfied with this, and the company is still unremittingly committed to exploring the path for China's high-end screens and bringing value to customers at home and abroad with independent innovation.
Zhang Ming, general manager of Hefei Visionox, said that consumers are very willing to get a variety of enjoyment at a very low cost, and only by reducing the cost can we win a wider market. In the flat panel display industry, how to reduce costs is the pursuit of the development of the industry. "Through technological innovation and cost reduction, the display industry has been industrialized and benefited thousands of households."
The development of the display industry is inseparable from the expansion of terminal application scenarios, but at the same time, the development of the domestic upstream industrial chain still needs to be continuously strengthened. The relevant leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have repeatedly stressed that the new display industry will move towards the middle and high end of the global value chain, and said that it will formulate and implement the "14th Five-Year Plan" display industry planning policy, coordinate resources to promote upstream and downstream linkage, and make up for the shortcomings of the industry.
It is worth noting that Visionox has been practicing the "Industrial Ecological Strategy", and its vision is to achieve the success of the whole industry chain through upstream and downstream efforts. In the PMOLED stage, Visionox accelerated the localization process of supporting facilities through collaborative innovation, and the localization rate of its PMOLED raw materials increased from 20% at the beginning to more than 90%.
In the field of AMOLED display, Visionox has achieved domestic substitution at multiple levels with the upstream industry chain. In the field of materials, in view of the problems of organic luminescent materials, thin film encapsulated ink materials, high-resolution photoresists, etc., Visionox has carried out joint development and verification with more than ten key material manufacturers in China to support the introduction of domestic materials. In terms of equipment development, Visionox cooperated with upstream equipment companies to complete the manufacturing and mass production of screen laser cutting equipment in only 7 months, and performed well in the yield rate of equipment products.
At this year's innovation conference, Visionox also brought 9 representatives of expert academicians of the display industry and upstream and downstream enterprises to jointly issue the "Proposal on Jointly Building an Emerging Display Industry Ecosystem", aiming to orderly promote the cooperation between upstream materials, equipment, downstream terminals and other industries and emerging display industries, and promote the industry to move towards the middle and high-end with scientific and technological innovation.
Visionox, together with expert academicians and enterprise representatives, jointly issued the "Proposal on Jointly Building an Emerging Display Industry Ecosystem"
As Li Qiang, chairman of Hongxin Electronics, said, the upstream and downstream collaboration of the panel industry chain is very critical, Korean manufacturers originally used soft and hard combination circuit boards in OLED manufacturing, but the cost of this way is very high, and Chinese manufacturers mainly use multi-layer board technology routes, which can reduce costs by half. On this basis, Visionox proposed to the supplier Hongxin Electronics whether it can use the double-layer circuit board, based on this, the two sides successfully developed a double-panel suitable for OLED, and the cost was reduced by more than 80% at once. "The innovation and integration capabilities of China's supply chain are very strong, and from this point of view, the future OLED opportunities are definitely in China."
A company may make a big business, but only a group of companies can strengthen an industry. Only by building a new display industry ecology can we accelerate the rise of China's display industry. Zhang Deqiang, chairman and president of Visionox, believes that industrial collaborative innovation has the effect of multiplication, and only through collaborative innovation can China's new display industry truly change the industrial pattern and serve the transformation and upgrading of China's economy.
Mr. Zhang Deqiang, Chairman and President of Visionox
"Visionox focuses on emerging displays, practices long-termism, and continues to export innovative power for the emerging display industry to become bigger, better and stronger." Zhang Deqiang said at the conference that in the next decade, under the joint support of Visionox's four strategic main lines including technological innovation, lean operation, industrial ecology and human resources, and the "2345" development framework, the company will achieve coordinated development of industrial ecology and become a global emerging display industry leader. (Proofreader/Fan Rong)