HannStar Display plans to invest NT$17 billion (US$607.4 million) to build an additional LCD panel production capacity of 30,000 substrates monthly, which will come online by 2023, according to the company.

HannStar's 5.3G plant is able to process around 130,000-140,000 glass substrates a month at the moment and the investment will be the first capacity expansion at the plant since it began operation in 2005.

The investment will come directly from HannStar's cash, which is currently at around NT$20 billion.

Thanks to robust demand from the stay-at-home economy, orders for IT panels have been rising, boosting their prices. HannStar is seeing its medium-size panels contribute over 50% of its revenues, with the company's gross margin likely to surpass 50% in the second quarter.

HannStar is expected to devote the new capacity to producing small- to medium-size panels for handset, wearable, tablet, industrial control and automotive applications, and will also push into the development of miniLED and microLED.

By DIGITIMES