Himax Commences World’s First Mass Production of LTDI Automotive Display Solution for NEVs

TAINAN, Taiwan, Oct. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced that mass production of its LTDI (Large Touch and Display Driver Integration) automotive display solution, HX83180 series, for leading vendors’ latest NEV models, commenced during the third quarter of 2023. LTDI design is particularly suitable for prevailing NEVs, known for their stylish smart cabins that feature large-sized display, panoramic view, free-form, curved design and in-cell touch functions. The Company has received a proliferation of inquiries regarding its LTDI solution which is now universally adopted by panel makers across the board.

The advancement of electric and autonomous vehicles has shifted the focus of the automotive industry from traditional metrics of engine efficiency and horsepower to prioritizing battery longevity and user-friendly interior cabin design. With the introduction of innovative display technology, car manufacturers have redefined the functionality of dashboards and central consoles, transforming them into an integrated, panoramic cockpit display with touch features. This transformative approach provides a consumer-electronics-inspired human-machine interface, delivering a futuristic and high-tech driving experience.

Himax is a pioneer in the industry, introducing the world-first LTDI technology back in 2021 meticulously designed to support such seamless, integrated large touch display panels, usually larger than 30 inches in size or spinning pillar-to-pillar across the entire width of the cockpit. Notably, Himax’s proprietary LTDI technology boasts the following features:

• Provides flexible design for various size / resolution / touch density: Outstanding capability to cascade up to 28 chips in series for a single, gigantic cockpit display in diverse sizes and resolutions up to 12K1K.
• Enables one-piece seamless panel design: Supports slim form, narrow bezel, curved shape with excellent display performance. LTDI makes possible the seamless one-piece molding of large-sized panels, a substantial improvement over conventional panels which are composed of tiled small displays.
• Employs distributed microprocessor architecture to shorten development time and save cost: Featuring state-of-the-art architecture that not only integrates display driver and touch sensor, but also adopts proprietary distributed touch microprocessors architecture significantly reducing development time and cost.
• Complies with leading automotive standards: Conforms to automotive AEC-Q100 reliability specifications and the latest automotive ISO 26262 functional safety requirements.

Himax’s cutting edge LTDI technology was first showcased at CES 2022 by a leading panel customer for its 30-inch panoramic view, in-cell touch display that provides seamless, intuitive and advanced tactile experience for future generation smart cabins. After its debut, customer inquiries and adoptions increased rapidly. Currently, two large touch display integrated panels with sizes of 35.6” and 44.8” have commenced mass production and are slated to be incorporated in the launch of new energy vehicles this season. In addition to the first generation LTDI with COF design, Himax also released a chip with COG design that can support even more channels and has gained several design-ins with global panel makers.

“Automotive display deployment is not only rapidly increasing in number, but also in size and feature complexity. Himax is optimistic about the trend of panoramic cockpits adoption inside vehicles, and we continue to expand our LTDI product line to better cater to customers’ needs for next generation vehicles,” said Ming-Cheng Chiu, Executive Vice President of Touch and Display Business Unit at Himax. “Our leadership as a pioneer in the LTDI market is a natural extension stemming from our dominant position in traditional display driver IC and TDDI for automotive displays. Given the rapid adoption of LTDI in new generation vehicles, and as a complementary offering to our automotive display line-up, we expect this trend to further strengthen our market share position in automotive and be a key driving force for us moving forward,” concluded Mr. Chiu.

About Himax Technologies, Inc.

Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a leading global fabless semiconductor solution provider dedicated to display imaging processing technologies. The Company’s display driver ICs and timing controllers have been adopted at scale across multiple industries worldwide including TVs, PC monitors, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, ePaper devices, industrial displays, among others. As the global market share leader in automotive display technology, the Company offers innovative and comprehensive automotive IC solutions, including traditional driver ICs, advanced in-cell Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI), local dimming timing controllers (Local Dimming Tcon), Large Touch and Display Driver Integration (LTDI) and AMOLED display technologies. Himax is also a pioneer in tinyML visual-AI and optical technology related fields. The Company’s industry-leading WiseEye^TM Smart Sensing technology which incorporates Himax proprietary ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm has been widely deployed in consumer electronics and AIoT related applications. While Himax optics technologies, such as diffractive wafer level optics, LCoS micro-displays and 3D sensing solutions, are critical for facilitating emerging AR/VR/metaverse technologies. Additionally, Himax designs and provides touch controllers, AMOLED ICs, LED drivers, EPD drivers, power management ICs, and CMOS image sensors for diverse display application coverage. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan, Himax currently employs around 2,200 people from three Taiwan-based offices in Tainan, Hsinchu and Taipei and country offices in China, Korea, Japan, Germany, and the US. Himax has 2,838 patents granted and 376 patents pending approval worldwide as of September 30, 2023.

http://www.himax.com.tw

Forward Looking Statements

Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in this conference call include, but are not limited to, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Company’s business; general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by the Company; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortage in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; changes in export license regulated by Export Administration Regulations (EAR); exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory and other risks described from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the SEC, as may be amended.

Company Contacts:

Eric Li, Chief IR/PR Officer
Himax Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +886-6-505-0880
Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
www.himax.com.tw

Karen Tiao, Investor Relations
Himax Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +886-2-2370-3999
Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
www.himax.com.tw

Mark Schwalenberg, Director
Investor Relations - US Representative
MZ North America
Tel: +1-312-261-6430
Email: HIMX@mzgroup.us
www.mzgroup.us