Tag: BOE Varitronix Limited

BOE Varitronix Limited (HKEX: 710) (“BOE Varitronix or BOEVx”), a world leading supplier of automotive display products, and Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX) (“Himax”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced they joined forces to secure a flexible AMOLED automotive display solution design-win with a leading new energy vehicle (“NEV”) maker. The solution has recently been applied to the customer’s upcoming launch of a flagship NEV model.

BOEVx and Himax partnered to offer the next generation flexible AMOLED automotive display in a 12.8-inch Center Information Display product (CID), adopting the Himax AMOLED driver IC and timing controller (TCON) solution. The AMOLED driver enables superior user visual enjoyment from a state-of-the-art OLED display from BOEVx with vivid and colorful image performance as well as modish panel curvature which benefits from the AMOLED panel and driver in COF technology. The Himax TCON supports dual-gate and MUX2 panel structure, 180-degree rotation with embedded color engine, along with an industry leading panel failure detection feature for passenger safety.

AMOLED displays have gained traction in various applications and are becoming the technology of choice for the high-end market as they provide better display quality and greater design flexibility. Himax’s flexible AMOLED display driver and TCON solution combined with BOEVx’s world-leading AMOLED display have been successfully adopted into the latest NEV model of major car makers.

Besides automotive flexible AMOLED solution, Himax also offers comprehensive automotive product portfolios for TFT-LCD displays, including in-cell TDDI, display driver, local dimming TCON, and high-speed P2P bridge IC. All have been broadly adopted, directly or indirectly, by automotive display module makers, including BOEVx, and Tier-1 automotive manufacturers and car brands placing Himax as the leading automotive driver supplier of the world.

In recent years, the smart vehicles industry has seen accelerating growth with all major global brands emphasizing more human-vehicle interaction upgrades, creating a trend towards large, personalized and super high resolution smart cockpit displays. Over the years, BOEVx has been promoting innovation in the field of smart cockpit display solutions, and is committed to providing car users with a more convenient, more comfortable and smarter driving experience. Currently, BOEVx has launched an S-shaped curved flexible AMOLED with 300mm in curvature and in triple-display form that is capable of displaying cluster information, center information as well as passenger entertainment content at the same time.

“Himax has been a long-term partner providing comprehensive automotive display solutions for BOEVx with leading specifications and professional service,” said Mr. Jack Su, Chief Executive Officer of BOEVx. “We are pleased to extend our deep cooperation and jointly develop the flexible AMOLED display solution in BOEVx’s next evolution display design.”

“The partnership with BOEVx allows us to promote Himax’s innovative automotive display solutions as well as nurture our leading-edge AMOLED technology,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. “We are delighted to further collaborate with BOEVx to launch advanced display solutions to the ever-growing car market, especially for NEV.”

About BOE Varitronix Limited
BOEVx (HKEX: 710) provides comprehensive and one-stop solutions and products, including the design, manufacturing and sales of automotive displays, industrial displays, home appliance application displays, and medical product displays. It combines rigorous research and development, innovative product design, flexible specifications and efficient production to maximize customer satisfaction. With focuses on automotive display business and continuously strengthens its own capabilities to become the world’s leading smart automotive display and solution provider, providing customers with one-stop services such as automotive integrated display system and smart automotive display system. Through its global sales network, the Company operates businesses in China, Europe, Korea, Japan, America and etc. With years of intensive cultivation of automotive display business and the trust of customers, it has become one of the leading automotive display suppliers and has established strategic cooperation with many well-known and NEV manufacturers. Based on strong foundation in display products and technologies, BOEVx continues to grow and aims to become a leading automotive cockpit display system solution provider.

https://www.boevx.com

About Himax Technologies, Inc.
Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a fabless semiconductor solution provider dedicated to display imaging processing technologies. We are a worldwide market leader in display driver ICs and timing controllers used in TVs, laptops, monitors, smartphone, tablets, automotive, digital cameras, car navigation, virtual reality (VR) devices and many other consumer electronics devices. Additionally, we design and provide controllers for touch sensor displays, in-cell Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI) single-chip solutions, LED driver ICs, power management ICs, and LCOS micro-displays for augmented reality (AR) devices and head-up displays (HUD) for automotive. We also offer CMOS image sensors, wafer level optics for AR devices, 3D sensing and ultralow power smart sensing, which are used in a wide variety of applications such as smartphone, tablet, laptop, TV, PC camera, automobile, security, medical devices, home appliance and AIoT. Founded in 2001 and Himax currently employs around 2,000 people. Himax has 3,016 patents granted and 550 patents pending approval worldwide as of February 28, 2021. Himax has retained its position as the leading display imaging processing semiconductor solution provider to consumer electronics brands worldwide.

http://www.himax.com.tw

Forward Looking Statements
Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, but not limited to, general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by BOEVx and Himax; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortages in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory and other risks described from time to time in Himax’s SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC, as may be amended.

Company Contacts:
Edwin Siu, Investor Relations
BOE Varitronix Limited
Tel: +852-2197-6151
Fax: +852-2197-6162
Email: SiuEdwinCK@boevx.com
http://www.boevx.com

Eric Li, Chief IR/PR Officer
Himax Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +886-6-505-0880
Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
www.himax.com.tw

Karen Tiao, Investor Relations
Himax Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +886-2-2370-3999
Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
www.himax.com.tw

Mark Schwalenberg, Investor Relations
– US Representative
MZ North America
Tel: +1-312-261-6430
Email: HIMX@mzgroup.us
www.mzgroup.us

26 March 2021, BOE Varitronix Limited (710.HK), the world’s leading smart automotive display and innovative solution provider announces its final results for the full year ended 31 December 2020. Leveraging on its momentum growth in automotive display business, the Group realized revenue of HK$4,527 million, an increase of 27% from last year’s HK$3,574 million.

The increase in gross profit as driven by the increase in turnover, and the cost-optimizing and efficiency management actions implemented by the Group, EBITDA has increased by 30% from HK$166 million in 2019 to HK$216 million, the profit attributable to shareholders recorded a significant increase of approximately 174% from HK$25.0 million in 2019 to HK$68.6 million in 2020. BOE Varitronix’s profitability has steadily improved, and the improvement in efficiency has achieved remarkable results.

During the year, in terms of product portfolio, the Group’s Thin Film Transistor (“TFT”) module business and touch panel display modules business continued to achieve remarkable growth and contributed over 75% of the Group’s revenue while the revenue from monochrome display business decreased. The continuous optimization of the Group’s product portfolio structure further enhances the Group’s profitability.

In 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought various degrees of impact to domestic and foreign economies. Through innovative products and services, BOE Varitronix is able to demonstrate its strong business resilience, while both automotive display business and industrial display business have recorded steady growths.

Significant Growth in Automotive Display Business with Surge in Sales Orders in the PRC Market

During the year, the Group’s automotive display business has grown substantially, generated revenue of HK$3,450 million, 33% YOY growth, which was mainly contributed by the surge in sales orders in the PRC, Korea and Japan and the commencement of mass production of TFT display modules and touch panel modules during the year. This business represented approximately 76% of the Group’s overall revenue.

According to the research conducted by a leading market research company, BOE Varitronix is currently one of the world’s top three automotive display suppliers. With its leading position in automotive display business, the overall market share has been gradually increasing.

During the year, the PRC is the major growth engine of automotive display market share. For the PRC market, the Group stated that as the lockdown was gradually eased during the second quarter, customer sentiments in automobile purchasing has been increasing and automobile sales in the PRC started to rebound throughout the rest of the year and result in a rapid growth of customer order. Together with the scheduled commencement of mass production of TFT display and touch panel display modules projects for both conventional vehicles and new energy vehicles (“NEVs”), the Group’s PRC automotive business has recorded a notable growth in 2020. The Group has achieved over 30% of market share in automotive TFT display for top 20 PRC automobile manufacturers.

BOE Varitronix currently has engaged in the strategic cooperation with major automobile manufacturers in the PRC and Tier-1 manufacturers, as well as launching cooperation with NEVs manufacturers in China. According to the statistics by the Group, BOE Varitronix has achieved over 30% of market share in automotive TFT display for major PRC NEVs manufacturers.

Although, the COVID-19 has brought certain impact to the macroeconomic environment, the accelerated development of smart automotive industry has generated a high demand for automotive display, which has provided opportunities for the substantial growth of BOE Varitronix automotive display business.

Industrial Display Business Stably Grown with Expansion in High-end Customers

Industrial Display is the second largest business of the Group. During the year, the Group has continued to promote its display business to industrial and high-end customers. The industrial display business generated revenue of HK$1,077 million, 9% YOY. This business represented approximately 24% of the Group’s overall revenue.

With the increase in consumer demand for information and the rise of Internet of Things (“IoT”), industrial clients prefer TFT module more. The sales of TFT display modules in education-related application in the PRC market and the ramping up of demand from a world-renowned high-end home appliance brand based in the United Kingdom have increased, which resulted in the growth of industrial display business.

Meanwhile, BOE Varitronix has been promoting distinctive Versi-color IBN cell and IBN-TFT hybrid display, as well as promoting the TFT display modules to customers in the high-end white-goods consumer sector in Europe. The Group is determined to grasp the opportunities for growth in industrial display business.

Creating Roadmap for Smart Cockpit Display to Seize Market Opportunities

As NEVs and autonomous driving technology are in the forefront of development, the ever-increasing trend of automotive intelligence and interconnection has indirectly driven the development and growth of automotive display market. The innovation of smart cockpit display, which has been widely adopted in instrument cluster, center information display, rear seat infotainment etc., is facing an enormous growth.

Under the positive momentum of the industry, the technical team of BOE Varitronix has been utilizing its fruitful experience in automotive display, large-sized display and integrated software and hardware system to accelerate towards the technology trend of large-sized automotive display and smart cockpit intelligence.

In order to strengthen the capabilities in larger-sized curved display, the Group has invested in optical bonding facilities together with a PRC renowned software group whose businesses cover the field of intelligent vehicle connectivity. New production lines will commence its production in the first half of 2021.

The Group has also increased investment in Shenzhen Jiangcheng Technology Co., Ltd in the first quarter of 2021 and reached a capital increase agreement to raise additional funding to support the on-going development in augmented reality head-up display (“AR-HUD”) and HUD related technologies and products.

In terms of visual display experience, the Group has been working with the eco-system partners, customers and also BOE Group to enhance the visual display experience through new technologies application. The use of AMOLED, Black Diamond Cell (“BD cell”), large-sized integrated curve display, high resolution 4K 3D display in automobile display can greatly enhance drivers’ and passengers’ immersive experience in car journey

BOE Varitronix stated that, the Group is dedicated to focus on the investment in smart cockpit display system, and to closely work with our automotive eco-system partners along the fast-developing track of the automotive value-chain, which will eventually lead the Group to become one of the leading integrated smart cockpit display system solution providers in the industry.

Date: 29 March 2021