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Ube Establishes Joint Venture to Produce Substrate Materials for Displays

May 27, 2011

TOKYO, May 27, 2011_Ube Industries, Ltd. has announced that it signed an agreement today with Samsung Mobile Display Co, Ltd. (SMD) to establish a joint venture to manufacture polyimide for substrates to be used in the next-generation displays which SMD plans to start mass producing.

Conventional flat panel displays use glass substrates. By using polyimide resin in place of a glass substrate, it will be possible to produce displays with a variety of features like flexibility (e.g., bendable displays). One of the major hurdles for mass production was the development of materials to minimize expansion deformation under high temperatures. Having made sufficient advances to clear this hurdle, Ube Industries and SMD decided to form a joint venture for full-scale mass production of the materials.

The joint venture opens the door to broader applications and markets for polyimide, a segment that Ube Industries has classified as a strategic growth business. For SMD, the joint venture will ensure the stable supply of a crucial material for mass production of its next-generation displays.

Ube Industries and SMD have not released details or terms of the joint venture agreement.

Statement by Shinobu Watanabe, Managing Executive Officer and Company President of Specialty Chemicals & Products Company, Ube Industries, Ltd.: Ube Industries is pleased to partner with SMD, a world leader in the development and real-world application of the most advanced displays such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. The establishment of the joint venture will accelerate our growth strategy for the polyimide chain, and contribute to the advancement and widespread adoption of next-generation displays.

Statement by Soo-in Cho, President & CEO of SMD: SMD was the first company to achieve mass production of active matrix organic light emitting diodes (AMOLEDs), in 2007. Through the joint venture with Ube Industries, we will secure crucial material technology for our next-generation displays.

Data for Joint Venture

Address Asan City, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea
To be established August 2011 (planned)
Initial investment 19.4 billion Korean won (approx. 1.5 billion Japanese yen)
Shareholders SMD (50%), Ube Industries (50%)

Name of company, representative director, etc., are yet to be decided.

About SMD (Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.)

Sales 4,470 billion Korean won (Year 2010)
Number of employees Approx. 15,000
Headquarters Cheonan City, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea
President & CEO Soo-in Cho

Contact

For inquiries please contact
  • Ube Industries, Ltd.
  • General Affairs & Public Relations Group
  • Seavans North Building, 1-2-1 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8449
  • Phone : +81-3-5419-6110
  • Contact us by Internet.