Philoptics has started the evaluation of FMMs for small and medium-sized OLEDs with Chinese panel manufacturers. The review, which began late last year, is expected to take more than a year to wrap up. Philoptics also set out a business goal of achieving the biggest performance in history this year.
According to Korean media Thelec, Philoptics representative Han Jixiu said after the 14th regular shareholders meeting held in Osan, Gyeonggi Province on the 29th: "FMM evaluation has been launched with Chinese panel manufacturers."
Representative Han said: "It will take more than a year to complete the evaluation from the end of last year." Then he added: "It is difficult to generate FMM sales during the year", adding that "FMM has been technically completed."
FMM is a fine metal reticle for evaporation of small and medium sized organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).
Japanese company Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) controls the global FMM market. Philoptics has been developing FMM by electroforming gold plating, as opposed to the etching (etching) method used by DNP.
The electroforming gold plating method is a technology of plating raw material Invar (nickel, iron alloy) on a patterned substrate. Philoptics was selected as the final executive agency in the non-etching field of the FMM national policy subject of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy of Korea at the beginning of last year, but said that it will continue to Drive FMM business.
Representative Han explained: "Chinese panel makers also only use FMMs from Japanese manufacturers, so they hope to diversify their components," adding that "small-size evaluations are being conducted with potential customers." The "small size" that the representative of Han refers to currently refers to the 6th generation (1500x1850mm) production line mainly used for the production of smartphone OLEDs.
According to the results of the ongoing FMM evaluation with Chinese panel makers, Philoptics' ultimate goal is to supply FMM to Samsung Display in the future. Samsung Display's FMM market is also dominated by DNP.
It is reported that Poongwon Precision, another Korean mask manufacturer, will supply FMM for Samsung Display, but has not yet guaranteed the volume of products. Poongwon Precision was listed on the KOSDAQ market last month in anticipation of the localization of FMM in Korea. Poongwon Precision's FMM technology uses the same etching method as DNP.
In order to enter the FMM market, Philoptics plans to prioritize the electroforming gold plating technology it has developed for another application area – multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) or Micro LEDs. Compared with FMM, it is relatively easy to apply electroforming gold plating technology in the field of MLCC or Micro LED. This year, Filoptics is expected to sell 2 billion won (about 10.47 million yuan) of electroforming gold plating in the fields of MLCC and Micro LED.
At the shareholders' meeting on the same day, the representative of Han Jixiu said, "It is expected that the company's sales will increase by 50%-60% this year, and it will achieve the largest performance in history." Compared with last year's sales of 230.8 billion won (about 1.2 billion yuan), it has increased by 50% to 60%, with sales of 350 billion to 370 billion won.
Regarding this year's business environment, Representative Han said, "Although there are geopolitical uncertainties, with factors such as the increase in the volume of foldable displays and the increase in the application of OLED for tablet computers, it is expected that customers will have supplementary and new investments." "Customer investment in the secondary battery equipment segment will also expand," it said. Philoptics' client company is Samsung Display in the display field and Samsung SDI in the secondary battery field.
Last year, Philoptics' secondary battery equipment sales reached 165.2 billion won (about 870 million yuan), a year-on-year increase of 22%, exceeding the 65.5 billion won (about 340 million yuan) sales of display equipment, which was once the main business. However, the operating loss was KRW 10.5 billion (approximately RMB 54.98 million) due to the expansion of new investments and other reasons. While it was profitable in 2020, it was in the red a year later. Shareholders who attended the general meeting on the same day demanded that the company increase its market value and actively publicize it.
On the far right of the entrance of Philoptics headquarters in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, there are secondary battery process equipment that will be sent to Samsung SDI's Hungary plant.