Kopin Corporation, a maker of microdisplays based in Westborough, Massachusetts USA, announced two agreements with two global OLED microdisplay companies. Kopin says that the agreements are part of its fabless OLED manufacturing strategy for its silicon-based Lightning™ OLED displays. Also, Kopin indicated that these new agreements represent significant steps to meet its near-term and long-term demands for OLED microdisplays.
First, Kopin signed an agreement with Yunnan OLiGHTEK Optoelectronics Technology Co. Ltd., a producer and developer of OLED microdisplays on silicon. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will jointly purchase an OLED deposition line to be installed within OLiGHTEK’s facility to augment OLiGHTEK’s existing fabrication capabilities. The companies expect that the OLED deposition line will be ready for volume production by the end of 2017. According to this agreement, Kopin will be entitled to 50% of the new line output.
In a separate agreement, Kopin will partner with both BOE Technology Group Co. Ltd. (BOE) and OLiGHTEK. This agreement will establish a high-volume, OLED microdisplay production facility managed by BOE in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. The facility’s OLED microdisplay production will support the growing AR and VR markets. BOE is a manufacturer of liquid crystal and OLED on glass displays for televisions, tablets, and smartphones.
Dr. John C.C. Fan, Kopin’s president, and CEO stated, “We have a fab-less manufacturing model both for the back-end silicon wafer processing and the front-end OLED deposition for our Lightning OLED displays. This is a first in the OLED microdisplay industry, and today’s announcements represent important elements of our fabless model.”
Fan added, “The agreement between BOE, OLiGHTEK, and Kopin will provide industry-leading capacity and quality OLED microdisplays for the growing AR and VR markets when the facility is completed.”
Neither of the new agreements involves licensing of Kopin technologies.
