International Flat Panel EXPO #2 Gets Down to Business
The 2nd annual presentation of the International FPD EXPO was all business. The show added a full day technology conference, sponsored an international matchmaking event, and featured displays of the latest in FPD product development - particularly in the areas of manufacturing solutions.
“The value-added show features such as the seminar and matchmaker we’re very well-received this year, “said Ok-Kyun Moon, director of the FPD EXPO Secretariat. “We’re still a young show, but we’re building a reputation as an event that delivers on the expectations of both exhibitors and attendees for to see cutting -edge products, learn the latest industry developments, and connect with new business development opportunities.”
The inaugural presentation of the FPD Seminar (proceedings available on CD and print) featured speakers from the US and Korea - including recent alums from Korea’s two FPD behemoths, LG and Samsung. Dr. Michael Lebby, president of the US-based Opto-Electronics Industry Association (OIDA), set a positive tone for the conference by predicting the FPD market will top $450 billion by 2015. Dr. Gregory Raupp, director of the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University, zeroed in on his program’s advances in flexible display manufacturing technology. Flexible displays promise to be one of the industry’s most revolutionary developments. Dr. Chang Hee Lee of Seoul National University (formerly with LG Chem) and Dr. Hyun-Jae Kim of Yonsei University (formerly with Samsung Electronics) focused on developments in OLED and AMOLED technologies –two more important drivers of FPD growth in the next 10 years.
“Manufacturing will drive solutions” in the FPD industry, said OIDA’s Lebby. That seemed to be the unofficial theme of this year’s FPD EXPO. The 57 FPD exhibitors were dominated by equipment, material and component makers offering new solutions to improve the FPD manufacturing process. Exhibitors came from the North America, Japan, Europe, China and Southeast Asia.
International FPD EXPO runs concurrently with the well-established LED EXPO. “The complementary nature of the shows is a two-for-one bonus that is another big draw to exhibitors and attendees both, said FPD EXPO’s Moon. This year the EXPO Secretariat cooperated with the Korea Trade Promotion Corporation (KOTRA) to host an international buyer program for the two events. The program brought in an additional 150 buyers from 25 countries for one-on-one meetings with show exhibitors.
