(Yicai) Aug. 14 -- Chinese electronic parts supplier Konfoong Materials International plans to team up with Japanese industrial equipment giant Ulvac Technologies to achieve resource sharing, complementary advantages, and enhanced market competitiveness by integrating their target materials for flat panel display businesses.

The alliance is still in the planning and investigation phase, with no formal agreement signed between KFMI and Ulvac yet, the Zhejiang province-based company announced late yesterday.

Ulvac is a globally renowned firm with a leading tech edge in target materials for organic light-emitting diode displays, while KFMI's flat panel display target materials have been certified by well-known domestic manufacturers and are being supplied in large quantities, highlighting strong customer loyalty and sustainability, the Chinese firm noted.

Flat panel display target materials are essential in the supply chain, characterized by "high technical barriers and high added value." The purity, compositional uniformity, and stability of the microstructure of these materials directly determine several core performance indicators of displays, including the resolution.

Ultra-high purity metal sputtering targets are one of KFMI's two main products. They include ultra-high purity aluminum, titanium, tantalum, copper, and other metal materials used in flat panel displays and semiconductor chip production.

KFMI's sputtering targets sales surged 40 percent to CNY2.3 billion (USD325 million) last year from the previous year, accounting for 65 percent of its total annual revenue, according to its annual earnings report. The company counts China's BOE Technology Group, the world's largest flat panel display manufacturer, among its clients.

Shares of KFMI [SHE: 300666] climbed 1.2 percent to CNY73.10 (USD10.19) each as of 1.50 p.m. in Shenzhen today, after jumping by as much as 4.2 percent at one point.

Editor: Martin Kadiev