Glass processing service provider G-Tech Optoelectronics has disclosed it has seen European automakers adopt its 3D-forming cover glass for CIDs (central information displays) and rear-view mirrors and expects shipments for such glass products to increase sharply beginning in second-half 2021.
Such cover glass can also be used in automotive smart keys, gear box panels, knob controls, touch panels and EV charging piles, G-Tech said.
G-Tech originally used anti-reflection (AR) optical coating and anti-glare (AG) sputtering spray processes to produce cover glass for smartphones, notebooks, tablets and fitness equipment. The company began developing and producing small-size automotive 3D-forming cover glass in 2012-2013 and medium- to large-size models in 2019.
In 2017 G-Tech became a strategic partner for Kinestral Technologies (KTI), a US-based developer of adaptive glass for green buildings, to undertake production of energy-saving smart-tinting architectural glass using KTI-developed technology. Besides shipments to KTI for sales in the US and other overseas markets, G-Tech has offered such glass for large construction projects in the Taiwan. Demand for such glass turned stagnant in 2020 due to the pandemic, but seems to be rebounding now, G-Tech noted.
As G-Tech and LCD panel maker Innolux belong to the Foxconn Group, G-Tech will provide glue-laminating and IGU (insulated glass unit) processing services for Innolux to produce smart architectural glass, G-Tech indicated.
G-Tech posted consolidated revenues of NT$2.449 billion (US$86.1 million), gross margin of -0.37%, operating loss of NT$436.6 million, and net loss of NT$293.1 million for 2020, and expects operation to swing into profitability in 2021.
G-Tech's energy-saving smart-tinting architectural glass
Photo: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, March 2021
