February 27, 2006, San Jose, CA--Vitex Systems is changing its business model to focus on its portfolio of intellectual property (IP) and provide related engineering services. As a result of this move, Vitex will close its Windsor, CT pilot production facility, where it had manufactured its flexible glass, and will begin licensing the core IP to substrate manufacturers who possess high-volume roll-to-roll manufacturing capacity and expertise.
Under the company's new business model, licensees will gain rights to Vitex's arsenal of patents, as well as its considerable engineering and integration talent. To this end, capital equipment manufacturers will now be able to license the IP for Vitex's Guardian deposition system with access to Vitex-designed hardware and software, while substrate manufacturers can buy rights to Vitex's flexible glass technology. Gaining access to Vitex's IP portfolio and integration expertise will enable organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display manufacturers and producers of organic optoelectronic devices to speed time-to-market of thinner, lighter, lower-cost products, according to Vitex.
Over the past two years, Vitex says it has made significant advancements with both its thin-film barrier encapsulation technology (Barix) for the manufacture of OLED displays and continued development of its roll-to-roll flexible glass technology. This success has been demonstrated by the acceptance of Vitex's Guardian deposition equipment, utilizing Barix, from leading manufacturers including Samsung SDI and a major Japanese firm.
The revised business model offers a number of benefits to Vitex customers and stakeholders, according to Robert Jan Visser, Vitex CTO.
"Vitex has produced a low-cost barrier technology as effective as a sheet of glass, with the flexibility and design advantages of plastic. Obviously, this has revolutionary implications for today's display manufacturers, and the electronics industry at large -- now, cost-effective production of thinner, lighter, high-performance displays and flexible electronics will be truly within reach," Visser said. "Acceptance of our deposition tools and licensing of our Barix technology and encapsulation process has demonstrated success. Since our strengths lie with our patent portfolio and engineering services capabilities, it makes perfect sense to shift all of our efforts to this approach, which will subsequently allow us to reduce our operating and manufacturing costs and maximize profitability."
Vitex says the display sector is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the company's potential for capturing broader market opportunities. For example, today's electronics components and devices also need to be protected from moisture and oxygen. Because Vitex offers the unique ability to customize its multi-layer barrier technology to meet the needs of various applications' specific barrier requirements, the company can address a wider array of organic optoelectronics markets, including smart labels/ID tags, thin-film batteries, solid-state lighting, optical networks, solar cells and smart cards, to name just a few.