JNTC to supply cover glass for upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQ

South Korean cover glass company JNTC will be supplying cover glass for the display on a new electric vehicle by Mercedes-Benz that will launch in the second half of the year, TheElec has learned.

The firm will be the exclusive supplier of the cover glasses used for the user experience hyperscreen (MBUX Hyperscreen) on the EQ electric sedan. MBUX is the car giant’s EV infotainment system.

Mercedes-Benz first unveiled the MBUX Hyperscreen in January. The new EQ sedan will be unveiled on April 15.

The screen, including the vents on its sides, is sized 56-inches. There will be three displays that are interconnected under the cover glass provided by JNTC. The display panels were made by LG Display __ two OLED panels that are sized 17.7-inch and 12.3-inch and another liquid crystal display screen sized at 12.3-inch.

In July, JNTC said it was ready to supply 47-inch cover glasses for use in cars. The size likely didn’t include the size of the vents of MBUX.

More and more OLED panels are being used in premium automobiles, as they are thin and cat be bent to accommodate more design choices. This has increased the demand for cover glasses as well.

JNTC built its first pilot production line for car displays in 2018. The supply to Mercedes-Benz is its first commercial supply of the glasses for cars.

LG Display, a customer of JNTC, is also a powerhouse in car displays. According to Omdia, the Korean display panel maker had a 25.1% market share based on shipment and 25.9% market share based on sales, making it the largest supplier of display panels for automobiles. In OLED for cars, LG Display holds an 87.5% market share, while Samsung Display has 12.5%.

JNTC is also planning to manufacture cover glass for car displays at its third factory in Vietnam, which will begin construction this month. The factory will also manufacture ultra-thin glass and cover glasses for smartwatches. The glasses made there will likely be supplied to Samsung Electronics. 

The third factory will be sized 73,000 meter-square. This is larger than the first and second factories combined. 

In 2019, JNTC also formed a joint venture with China’s BOE, called BNJ.

Last year, the Korean glass firm recorded 347.7 billion won in sales and 74.9 billion won in operating income, a rise of 9.9% and drop of 21.5% from 2019.