EE times
Display makers gets $10 million loan for nonorganic EL production
By Yoshiko Hara
EE Times
February 6, 2004 (11:19 a.m. ET)
TOKYO — Display maker iFire Technology Inc. has acquired $10 million in financing from Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. (DNP), the largest printing company in Japan, to build a pilot production line for nonorganic EL displays.
Manufacturing will take place at iFire's in Toronto, Ontario.
iFire has been promoting its proprietary nonorganic EL display, based on the thick-film dielectric electroluminescent (TDEL) technology, The company said it can be produced using a simple, low cost process.
The $10 million will be used to upgrade iFire's Toronto facility to set up the back-end process and set the stage for production-quality flat panel displays on a pilot manufacturing basis. Displays would measure in the mid-30-inch range, the company said.
DNP agreed to a one-year joint development contract with iFire last March and offered its idle line for front-end fabrication, which iFire does not own.
iFire showed the 34-inch prototype jointly made last December. "We wanted to verify that the 34-inch panel practically functions as a display. It functions and the picture quality is good. So we moved one step forward," said a DNP spokesman.
DNP has been supplying materials for various types of displays. The loan to iFire deepens its involvement in the display market. "It is attractive if a 34-inch display can be offered at about $2,000. The size with that price will form a market in between PDP and LCD," said the spokesman.
The loan gives iFire a pilot back-end line with a monthly capacity of about 300 units. With DNP's front-end line, the two companies will begin pilot production. After pilot production, iFire plans to begin volume production in 2006.