Kopin Corporation (NASDAQ: KOPN) a leading provider of application-specific optical systems and high-performance microdisplays for defense, training, enterprise, industrial, consumer and medical products, today announced the purchase of a state of the art OLED Deposition System and all related equipment to establish full-scale OLED microdisplay production at the company's Westborough, Massachusetts headquarters. The investment marks a significant evolution in Kopin's manufacturing strategy and reflects the rapidly increasing demand for domestically produced OLED devices for U.S. defense applications.
Over the past several years, Kopin has operated under a fabless OLED production model. However, the surge in requirements for fully USA-built OLED microdisplays - particularly for FPV systems, thermal weapon sights, and other soldier-borne mission critical defense applications - has accelerated the need for U.S. based manufacturing capabilities. Bringing high throughput, fully automated OLED microdisplay manufacturing equipment in house enables Kopin to respond to this demand with greater speed, flexibility, and cost efficiency.
The company will continue to leverage its established Asian manufacturing partners for consumer and medical applications that do not have a domestic production requirement, as well as its European OLED deposition partner for NATO aligned defense programs, though will supplement that with in-house OLED production for U.S. defense markets.
Management Commentary
Michael Murray, Chief Executive Officer of Kopin, said: "Adding OLED manufacturing capability to our Westborough facility strengthens our ability to support urgent defense needs while improving our control over quality, lead times, and pricing. This capability both enhances our competitiveness, deepens the sovereign supply chains available to our customers - and importantly, expect it to expand our profit margins."
"This also aligns with our broader strategy to provide U.S. manufacturing pathways across multiple display technologies. With domestic capabilities for LCD, OLED, and MicroLED - supported in part by our IBAS program award from the U.S. Department of War - we are well positioned to deliver secure, high performance display solutions for the next generation of defense and industrial systems."
"Our customers increasingly require trusted, U.S. based production for critical display components," added Iwan Dodd, SVP Business Development. "With this investment, Kopin is answering that call and reinforcing our role as a premier supplier of advanced display technologies for the defense community."