Samsung Mobile Display started producing AMOLED panels in their new 5.5-Gen (1,300x1,500mm) fab in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. This is actually two months ahead of schedule. The official celebration will take place next month.
Samsung 5.5-gen fab groundbreaking ceremony
This is just the first line in Samsung's new fab - which will produce 24,000 substrates a month. The next stage (line 2) is scheduled for the end of 2011 (and will double the capacity to 48,000 monthly substrates). The third line is planned for the first half of 2012, and this will bring monthly capacity to 100,000 substrates. Total investment for this new fab is around $2.2 billion.
A trusted source tells us that Samsung will start using Universal Display's green PHOLED materials in all AMOLED screens produced in this new fab (in addition to the red PHOLED already used in all of Samsung's AMOLED panels). This will make the new panels more efficient than before. The new plant still uses Fine Metal Mask (FMM, or Shadow Mask) technology - Samsung isn't ready with their laser-based technology that will enable much high resolution displays.