TCL CSOT to triple its 5.5-Gen inkjet printed OLED capacity in a $211 million investment

TCL CSOT announced that it is set to triple its 5.5-Gen inkjet-printed OLED line in Wuhan. The company signed an agreement with the local government in Wuhan that will support the project, which will require an investment of 1.5 billion Yuan ($211 million USD). TCL CSOT expects that the new capacity will be ready by 2028.

TCL CSOT currently produces commercial displays at its 5.5-Gen line, but once its 8.6-Gen inkjet printing line will be ready (which will also be at around 2028), it will utilize the 5.5-Gen line mostly for R&D, pilot production and verification of products on a pilot scale. But with that expanded capacity, it will likely be also used for some commercial production. The 5.5-Gen line is based on equipment that TCL CSOT acquired from JOLED, after it was bankrupt in 2023.

TCL CSOT is moving forward quickly with its plans to scale-up inkjet printing for OLED production. In September 2025, the company officially announced its 8.6-Gen inkjet printing OLED T8 production line in Guangzhou, China. The project is estimated at 29.5 billion Yuan ($4.15 billion USD). The planned T8 fab will have a monthly capacity of 22,500 glass substrates (8.6-Gen, or 2290x2620 mm). TCL is mainly targeting IT devices - tablets, laptops and monitors. TCL is joining Samsung, BOE and Visionox that have already announced (and started construction) 8.6-Gen IT AMOLED lines, but TCL's line is unique in its printing production process. TCL says it will begin construction in November 2025, which means that realistically real mass production will likely begin only in 2028 or later.

According to TCL, its printing process is much more efficient in material utilization, reaching almost 90% (compared to around 30% utilization in vacuum evaporation processes). The company says that it will be able to produce lower cost OLED displays that still maintain high performance, and with high production yields. The company says it has over 1,200 patents related to inkjet printing of OLED displays. The company recently demonstrated its latest printed OLED display prototypes. We posted an interview with two TCL CSOT executives to discuss the company's inkjet-printed OLED technology, roadmaps and views. We also recently posted an article detailing the history and future of OLED Inkjet Printing technologies.