AUO has started volume production at its new G6 LTPS fab in Kunshan, in Eastern China (AUO Nears Kunshan Opening). The company has invested $1.58 billion and the fab has a monthly capacity of 25,000 substrates. Capacity is said to be fully booked, already, to make high end panels for notebooks and smartphones. The smartphone panels will be sold initially to high end Chinese brands. Local sources say that the advanced production equipment has a nine mask process rather than the 11 or 12 mask steps of other factories.
The factory has a number of integrated processes including the ability to make in-cell touch, glass thinning, bonding and module assembly.
AUO is proud of its green credentials and the Kunshan fab is AUO’s second, and China’s first TFT-LCD fab having won LEED Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The factory covers 480,000 m² and employs 1,300 employees, including 250 engineers from AUO in Taiwan.
