displaysearchhttps://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/prn/texas/985962
July 31, 2001, 7:15AM
(BW) DisplaySearch Introduces Latest Section of
Alternative Display Technology Report - Alien
Technology`s NanoBlocks
Business Editors & High Tech Writers
(c) 2001 Business Wire.
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2001--DisplaySearch, the
worldwide leader in flat panel display (FPD) market research and consulting, is
pleased to announce the immediate availability of the latest section of its Alternative
Display Technology Report - Alien Technology. The report provides an overview of
the producer of this technology, derived benefits of the technology, target markets,
process and equipment requirements, manufacturing details, current status, forecast
and assessment. Alien Technology's NanoBlocks(TM) are an alternative approach to
manufacturing displays, based on Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA(TM)). The FSA
approach is attractive due to the potential dramatic cost reduction in the
manufacturing process. Other advantages besides cost include manufacturing speed,
reliability (via redundancy of circuits), and flexibility. FSA offers a broad range of
compatibility with display applications, substrate types, and NanoBlock material
types.
According to DisplaySearch Director of Technology Pat Dunn, "Alien Technology,
with it's unique Fluidic Self Assembly process, is poised to cut as much as two-thirds
of the cost out of manufacturing LCDs for portable applications. This technology has
the potential to make sweeping changes in the way displays are manufactured. The
roll-to-roll, or web, process combined with FSA enables rapid, efficient placement of
display control and driver ICs. It also opens many possibilities for new driver design,
with its flexibility. Alien is essentially creating TFTs without any TFT processing,
instead relying on more cost effective wafer fabs to produce the transistors which are
cut into die and assembled onto glass or plastic substrates through a proprietary
process."
Alien Technology, the sole producer of this FSA process, has formed partnerships
with leading display and material companies to achieve their mass production goals.
Partnering companies include DuPont, iTechnologies, Philips Flat Panel Display
Systems, The Dow Chemical Company, and Toray Engineering Co. Ltd. Their first
major customer is Gemplus, with whom they've entered a volume manufacturing
agreement for a Smart Card and integrated 5-digit, 7-segment display.
A rough prediction for volumes of display related products, according to Alien, is in
millions of units per month by the end of 2004, with production scheduled to start at
the end of 2002. Based on current capacity projections, DisplaySearch is forecasting
Alien's Smart Card-related revenues to rise to $244 million in 2005 with sufficient
capacity to also serve other markets, such as RF tags and military applications such as
phased array antennas.
The Alien Technology Report is available for $1,500. The report is also available
as part of DisplaySearch's annual Alternative Display Technology Report (ADT),
which includes OLED, LCOS, PDPs, Thick Film EL, e Ink, iFire and Carbon
Nanotube display technologies. For more information on any DisplaySearch product
or service, please contact DisplaySearch at TEL: 512/459-3126, FAX: 512/459-3127,
email: info@displaysearch.com or Web: www.displaysearch.com.
--30--LS/na*
CONTACT: DisplaySearch, Austin
Kevin Brown, 512/459-3126
Fax: 512/459-3127
info@displaysearch.com
KEYWORD: TEXAS
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ADVERTISING/MARKETING COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
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