HannStar Display has kicked off small-volume shipments of its automotive panels to automakers in Europe, having already entered related supply chains in China and Japan.

The company expects the ratio of Europe-bound shipments to increase significantly in 2021, furthering its overall automotive panel shipments.

The company plans to expand its portfolios of automotive panels in 2021, in addition to the current focus for central information display (CID) and dashboard applications.

Meanwhile, the company is ramping up its automotive panel capacity by setting up two automotive production lines in Taiwan to meet clients' demand amid the US-China trade tension, according to company sources.

One of the new production lines is currently running 50-60% of its capacity as demand was crippled by weak global auto sales this year, said the sources.

Installation of the other line is almost complete, and related products rolling out from the production line are likely to receive validation from clients in the second quarter of 2021, said the sources.

For the fourth quarter of 2020, panel shipments for IT applications (notebooks and tablets) will account for 56% of total sales, followed by smartphones (14%), feature phones (12%), industrial control (10%), automotive (5%) and wearables (3%).

By DIGITIMES