(Yicai Global) June 29 -- Amid a cyclical downturn in the display panel industry, China’s BOE Technology Group plans to invest CNY50 billion (USD6.9 billion) to research and develop innovative businesses related to the Internet of Things over the next three years, according to the panel giant’s chairman.

With the investment, BOE aims to drive development of a portion of the downstream and upstream segments of the IoT-related industry worth CNY1 trillion (USD138 billion), Chen Yanshun said at an event yesterday.

BOE’s industrial internet business grew at an annual compound rate of 119 percent between 2020 and last year, serving more than 20 industries and 200 firms above a designated size, Vice President Wang Hong said at the same event. Its software as a service had over 2,600 subscribers, added Wang, who is also the general manager of BOE unit Beijing Zhongxiangying Technology.

BOE will focus on three main businesses: semiconductor displays, IoT innovations, and sensor parts, said Xu Xiaoguang, vice president and chief technology officer of the Beijing-based firm.

Developing innovative IoT-related businesses will help BOE contain the impact of cyclical swings in the display panel industry. Product prices fluctuated wildly between the second quarter of last year and the first of this year, a BOE executive told investors earlier this month, adding that the industry is expected to recover in 2023.

BOE’s first-quarter net profit tumbled 94 percent to CNY247 million (USD34 million) from a year earlier, according to its latest earnings report. Revenue sank 25 percent to CNY38 billion, with income from the IoT innovation businesses accounting for 15.3 percent of the total.

In the face of the considerable and sustained increase in costs, BOE will hike the prices of its mini light-emitting diode and micro LED products from next month, according to a June 27 notice.

BOE plans to focus on 12 key areas over the next five years, joining hands with over 50 strategic partners and more than 500 cooperation projects with funding of up to CNY150 million, President Gao Baowen said at the yesterday’s event.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione