Building Silicon-Based OLED, Creating a 10-Billion Unicorn

Deep News
Aug 19

The OLED sector, long dominated by overseas manufacturers holding significant market share, is gradually witnessing the emergence of domestic companies leveraging cost-performance advantages to capture market share.

OLED "unicorn" Shizai Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shizai Technology) submitted its prospectus to the STAR Market at the end of June and recently received its first round of inquiry letter.

Based in Hefei, Shizai Technology is a display manufacturer specializing in OLEDoS micro display devices. OLEDoS refers to OLED on Silicon, a display technology that combines semiconductors with OLED. Displays manufactured using this technology can achieve ultra-high resolution in miniature sizes while offering advantages such as high brightness, high contrast, high PPI (pixels per inch), fast response speed, and low power consumption, making them suitable for AR/VR devices.

Currently, the most advanced OLEDoS technology is mastered by Sony Corporation.

Founded in 2016, Shizai Technology's founder Gu Tie was born in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province in 1968 and graduated from Fudan University's Physics Department in 1989. He obtained his engineering doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994.

Gu Tie has held various positions including R&D engineer and engineering manager at optical imaging system companies, project manager, operations manager, and director of product engineering at General Electric's medical systems and PerkinElmer, general manager of GE Global Research Center (Shanghai), and director and general manager of Shanghai Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd.

According to reports, Gu Tie participated in the establishment of America's first second-generation TFT-LCD (thin-film transistor liquid crystal display) production line in the 1990s, as well as the R&D and manufacturing of the world's first chest digital X-ray machine.

In 2011, Gu Tie co-founded Shanghai iRay Technology Co., Ltd. (later known as iRay Technology) and served as chairman. iRay Technology primarily produces core components related to X-rays, such as flat panel detectors, high-voltage generators, radiation sources, and X-ray tubes. iRay Technology went public in 2020, becoming the first listed company for medical device core components on the A-share capital market, achieving global first place in industry shipment volume in 2021.

In 2016, Gu Tie established Shizai Technology in Shanghai, built a production base in Hefei, and later relocated the headquarters to Hefei. As an investment attraction project for Anhui Province, Shizai Technology receives significant attention in Hefei. Hefei Xinzhan Industrial Investment and Hefei Industrial Guidance Fund provided funding through a combined "debt + equity" investment approach, addressing Shizai Technology's capital pressure after industrialization.

Shizai Technology's Senior Vice President Feng Hua revealed, "In the first phase of project construction, Hefei Industrial Investment Group and Xinzhan High-tech Zone investment funds helped us secure 25% of capital, leveraging 75% of social capital. These funds were mainly used to invest in fixed assets and purchase production equipment."

Shizai Technology has completed seven rounds of financing, with the most recent being a Series C round in February 2023. Investors include notable industry players such as Wuhan Jingce Electronics, DJI, Xiaomi, and GoerTek, multiple local state-owned enterprises from Hefei, as well as renowned investment institutions including China Merchants Bank International, China Internet Investment Fund, Walden International, CICC Capital, Zhengxingu Capital, Source Code Capital, and Sky9 Capital.

Shizai Technology's valuation exceeds 10 billion yuan.

Shizai Technology's Phase I factory covers over 53,763 square meters and is one of the few global industrial bases specializing in producing OLEDoS displays on 12-inch wafers. Compared to traditional 8-inch wafers, 12-inch wafers offer lower costs and more advanced technology platforms. After production commences, it can produce 9,000 12-inch wafer starts monthly. At full capacity, annual output value can reach 3 billion yuan.

Shizai Technology has successfully mastered key technologies including current-driven, high refresh rate, wide color gamut, and stacked white OLED devices.

According to the prospectus, from 2022 to 2024, Shizai Technology achieved operating revenues of 190 million yuan, 215 million yuan, and 280 million yuan respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.5%. During the same period, the company recorded net losses of 247 million yuan, 304 million yuan, and 247 million yuan respectively, with cumulative losses totaling 798 million yuan.

Shizai Technology's main customers include ByteDance, Thunderbird, and Lenovo. Among them, Thunderbird, ByteDance, and the company's "Customer 3" collectively account for over 80% of global XR market shipment volume in 2024.

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

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