Wistron to divest flexible displays firm Polymer Vision

Dan Rogers - 02 Dec 2011

Flexible display firm Polymer Vision is spinning out from parent company Wistron.

The Netherlands-based company is looking for strategic investors after Taiwan-based manufacturer Wistron decided to divest the company earlier in 2011.

Karl McGoldrick, CEO of Polymer Vision, states: 'We've been working on this since September. We're talking to various interested parties.

'Wistron has been the decision maker on this, but it is good for everybody. Wistron is an original design manufacturer [of unbranded products]; this technology, because it is disruptive, needs more exposure, so we need to change things significantly.'

The company will discuss its options with potential investors with the aim of completing the spin-out by the end of Q1 2012.

Rollable displays

Polymer Vision is working on the technology for flexible displays, such as rollable e-paper devices. The company was acquired by Wistron in a €12 million deal after it went into receivership in July 2009.

McGoldrick believes that recent progress made by the company will make the company an appealing investment.

He notes: 'One of the main factors in our recent progress is that, around 2010, we were presenting technology made on research equipment, so we couldn't demonstrate scalability. An LCD line became available locally in September 2010 and since then we've can prove scalability for our high-value technology.'

Flexible displays recently became a popular topic in the consumer electronics industry after Samsung announced plans to introduce conformable displays - devices that can be shaped to create new designs for rigid products - in 2012.

A feature on flexible displays, including a full interview with Polymer Vision, will appear in the next issue of +Plastic Electronics magazine.

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