Now it’s time for mid-to-large TSP…competition in the TSP market intensifies

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In the mid-to-large touch screen panel (TSP) market, which is now about to bloom, competition is already heating up. The small and medium-sized smartphone TSP market is already saturated, but the mid-to-large market is expanding geometrically and has just entered into the flowering stage. In particular, demands for interactive whiteboards, to which TSP was not applied, besides notebook PCs, monitors and all-in-one PCs, are anticipated.

According to the industry on September 9, large and medium-sized corporations with plenty of financial resources are making huge investments in the market for mid-to-large TSP larger than 12 inches. In particular, the LCD backlight unit (BLU) and module makers, which were classified as the downstream display industry, are actively investing. It is easy to apply existing process technologies like the color filter technology to the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process, the core of TSP production.

Kumho Electric joined hands with BKE&T, an affiliate of Bokwang Group specializing in small display modules, to jump into the TSP business. It already has the technology for mass-producing TSP whose line width is less than 10μm. Considering that the thickness of Samsung Electronics’ latest smartphone bezel is 20μm or less, it has the technological edge. It is planning to start producing Zerogap Touch (G2) TSP in the second half. Kumho Electric made this investment with interactive whiteboards and digital information displays (DID) in mind. Its strategy is to use the metal mesh replacing ITO to build a line exclusively for large-area TSP.

LG Display’s vendors like Heesung Electronics and LG Innotek also entered into the TSP business. LG Innotek is planning to expand the business into the mid-to-large market in addition to G2 TSP which it is producing now. Heesung Electronics is also extending the G2 mid-to-large TSP line in the Daegu Seongseo Industrial Complex. LG Display will also enter the market and start mass-production in the second half.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics recently succeeded in developing G2 TSP, and began to supply it for the new product models of Samsung Electronics. Notebook PCs and all-in-one PCs are targeted. Iljin Display, an existing mid-to-large TSP vendor of Samsung Electronics, recently built a second plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do Province and increased its production capacity. Dongwoo Fine-Chem, the sole supplier of On Cell TSP AMOLED (OCTA) TSP for Samsung Display, is planning to change part of the existing color filter line into a TSP line and produce G2 TSP. Smartphone film TSP makers like Synopex, S-mac and ELK are actively developing mid-to-large TSP. Melfas is also working with a Chinese company to develop large-area TSP with interactive whiteboards in mind.

The proportions of notebook PCs and desktop PCs with TSP loaded will increase to 13-14% this year. 40% of the notebook PCs sold in the global market has the touch function. Large-area TSP for interactive whiteboards and DIDs are expected to grow in earnest starting in the second half.

“If implementation of the best functions was crucial to TSP for smartphones, it is most important in the large-area TSP market to increase the yield and secure price competitiveness,” said an industry official. “In particular, subsidiaries or affiliates of large corporations will become a big variable in the market.”

Oh Eun-ji | onz@etnews.com

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