PI Advanced Materials expects record sales in 2021
Sales to reach 300 billion won
PI Advanced Materials said on Tuesday that it expects record sales in 2021.
The firm is aiming to expand sales of polyimide films by 10% to 15% this year, a company spokesperson said.
The company posted sales of 261.8 billion won last year, its record up to date. It posted operating income of 60 billion won, a rise of 79% from 2019.
Demand for polyimide film is expected to rise from 5G and OLED smartphones expanding sales this year.
Flexible OLED panels uses polyimide as its substrate. Samsung, Apple and Huawei use the technology for their flagship smartphones.
Samsung will account for mid-30% of PI Advanced Materials sales this year, while Apple will account for mid-20% and Huawei 10%, the company said.
Polyimide is also used as heat resistant sheet for flexible printed circuit boards and used as film for batteries in electric vehicles.
Heat resistance and FPCB accounts for 35% and 40%, respectively, of PI Advanced Materials’ sales last year. Sales rose 14% and 25%, respectively, for each business last year.
PI Advanced Materials is expecting increased supply of 5G modified polyimide film and chip-on-film this year.
The company has supplied low permittivity modified polyimide film for 5G antenna to Samsung for the latter’s Galaxy S21 smartphones.
The latest film lowered the permittivity from the film it supplied for the Galaxy S20 series last year. The permittivity was level to that of 80% of those from liquid crystal polymer.
PI Advanced Materials plans to produce 4,300 matric tonnes of polyimide films this year.
It plans to produce 5,000 metric tonnes next year by expanding its production capacity by 600 metric tonnes from the current 4,500 metric tonnes. It will invest 70 billion won to do so.