In what is being hailed as “a historic momentâ€, flexible display company Royole Corporation has opened a factory in Shenzhen, spanning 1.1 million sq ft and capable of mass production of fully flexible displays. With the ability to produce more than 50 million flexible display units a year, the Quasi-G6 Mass Production Campus will supply consumer electronics, transportation, smart home, sports and fashion, office and education and robotics markets.
With firsts to its name, like the world’s thinnest full colour AMOLED flexible display, Royole expects that its increased production will enable a swathe of next-generation electronics. The manufacturing facility cost an eye-watering USD $1.7 billion (that’s around €1.5 billion) and can churn out flat, curved and fully flexible displays.
Royole flexible displays use AMOLED technology, which has the advantages of being thin, light weight, bendable, portable, shatterproof, high contrast and low in energy demands. The display technology is usually found in smartwatches, mobile devices, laptops, and televisions.
Samsung’s rollable displays are based on AMOLED technology.
Royole expects flexible AMOLED to dominate the next-generation of displays. The company has already created the world's first foldable 3D mobile theatre (2015), the world's first curved car dashboard based on flexible electronics (2016), and the first smart writing pad, RoWrite, based on flexible sensors (2017).
Speaking about the factory opening, Dr Bill Liu, founder and CEO of Royole, said: "This is a historic moment for our company.
"This is an important event in the realm of technology and innovation. We strongly believe what we have done will profoundly influence and change the world's electronics industries. The global display market has entered a new era and Royole has taken a leadership position. This accomplishment is a dream come true. Since the company's inception, we have been focusing on the development of novel flexible displays and flexible sensors. Now, with this landmark achievement, we can provide a variety of fully flexible products on a large scale to improve the way people interact with and perceive their world."