In October 2017 BOE started to produce flexible OLED displays at its first flexible OLED line, the Chengdu B7 6-Gen fab. In addition to this fab in Chengdu, in October 2016 BOE announced another 6-Gen OLED fab, in Mianyang, with a similar capacity.
In November 2017 reports from Korea suggested that BOE is planning its third flexible OLED Line, as the Chinese company aims to ramp up production quickly and be able to supply flexible OLEDs to Apple in the future. Today BOE officially announced its plans to construct its third line in Chongqing's Liangjiang New District. BOE's new fab will cost 46.5 billion Yuan, or about $7.3 billion USD.
BOE's Chongqing line will have a monthly capacity of 48,000 6-Gen (1500x1850 mm) substrates. Construction time will take 28 months, which means the new fab will be able to begin production in H2 2020. As of today BOE committed to invest 10 billion Yuan ($1.5 billion USD) while the Chongqing Government invested 16 billion Yuan. The rest of the funds will be raised from external sources.
BOE is currently ramping up production at the B7 line, but this process will take time. CLSA expects BOE to ship 19 million smartphone OLEDs in 2018 and 41 million panels in 2019.
