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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Harvey Rosenkrantz who wrote (88140)	12/23/2009 11:24:16 AM
From: Jim Mullens	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 197254

NF / Harvey, re: PVI / Mirasol Thanks for the history lesson. QCOM had a “strategic relationship” with PVI, but never got so far as “ invest(ing) in a factory with those folks?” Re: PVI makes the current Kindle e-ink screen. I now see PVI bought e-ink this summer and the factory was built with the new partner so I guess PVI has gone from being a partner to being a competitor. Hopefully, they didn't get to see all of Q's MEMS IPR before going it alone. Shades of wK.” Was that Wireless Knowledge / Wingcast, or both???? When on the cutting edge of new tech, forming “strategic relationships” to advance the ball has its plusses and minuses. Hopefully there were some plusses in this case. More on PVI here>>>> glgroup.com Prime View International Makes Its Move after 17 Years Monday, October 05, 2009 • Analysis by: David Barnes • Analysis of: Prime View secures flat panel supply from CMO \| www.taipeitimes.com • Source: www.glgroup.com Summary: • Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) will cooperate with Prime View Technology (PVI, TPE:8069) to make E Ink displays using fifth-generation TFT capacity. • CMO gets a way to enter the market for eBook displays and PVI gets more capacity for conventional, Kindle-like displays on glass. Analysis: Back in 1992, Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing, the largest paper company in Taiwan, worried about the eventual replacement of paper by electronic displays. Apparently, its executives had the foresight to imagine products like the Amazon Kindle reader and they wanted to remain relevant in such a future. They funded scientists from the Sarnoff Research Institute (now SRI International) to start Prime View International as the second AMLCD venture in Taiwan. The AMLCD producer struggled through the 1990s after it failed to capture share of the burgeoning demand for pachinko game displays in Japan. At the end of the decade, it began specializing in small medium displays for which it had some IP (regarding array drivers). New entrants on island such as Acer Display Technologies, Chi Mei Optoelectronics and HannStar Displays used Japanese technology to create much larger fabs for making PC displays about that time, so PVI became a supplier for companies needing small quantities of small displays. In some cases, PVI customers went to larger competitors after developing a market for their products but PVI played an important role in the industry. It seemed content to bide its time. All that changed when it became the incubator for electrophoretic displays such as those used in the Sony Libre or Amazon Kindle. PVI learned how to layer E Ink film on thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays and took the lead in early stages of eBook market development. Unfortunately, PVI owned only 9 bps of the global AMLCD capacity in 2008, so it was unable to support sustained market growth. It therefore joined with Varitronix, a niche panel maker in Hong Kong in acquisition of Hydis Technology in Korea. That company began as Hyundai LCD but suffered greatly during the currency crisis of 1997–1998. After Hyundai acquired LG Semiconductor, it deemphasized the LCD business and Hynix LCD became Hydis before being sold to Beijing Oriental Technology. As BOE Hydis, its technology was transferred to China and its spirit weakened further. Eventually, BOE Technology was forced to restructure and Hydis went under administration by a Korean court. I imagine that it has been hard for the Korean staff to accept another foreign master, but I understand the rationale for wanting the capacity. Hydis Technology fabs have nearly five times more capacity than the original PVI fabs do. Knowing the background deeply, I can also imagine why PVI wants even more capacity. After acquiring E Ink, PVI needs to sustain its lead and that means making ever larger eBook displays. The total fifth-generation TFT capacity at CMO is twelve times greater than the total capacity PVI has in Taiwan and Korea. In addition, the larger substrates will support efficient production of 10-inch or larger displays. There is another reason for the CMO supply agreement, I believe. PVI licensed technology from Philips Research for making plastic displays and it needs to use some of its glass capacity to develop that capability. The technology is called Electronics on Plastic by Laser Release (EPLaR). The process uses glass substrates as carriers for the plastic because glass provides dimensional stability and supports higher process temperatures than plastic alone. After fabricating the TFT backplane on plastic, a laser beam helps lift the plastic film stack off the glass. PVI can then apply plastic-based electrophoretic film to create a display. I know one of the former Philips technologists working to bring this process into mass production and he is very good. I assume PVI will use some of its capacity in Taiwan and Korea to counter potential competition from Plastic Logic and Polymer Vision (recently acquired by Wistron) who may introduce electrophoretics on plastic substrates next year. Yet another reason may be AU Optronics (AUO) and its SiPix affiliate. AUO, the result of two acquisitions by Acer Display Technology, is the main rival of CMO. SiPix is a rival technology to E Ink. I expect AUO will introduce electrophoretic displays of its own next year, so CMO has its own reason for getting into the game. After 17 years, the vision of Yuen Foong Yu Group is coming into focus