TCL kicks off construction on the world’s first large-scale 8.6-Gen printed OLED plant

TCL CSOT has officially broken ground on its long-rumored T8 8.6-generation OLED production facility in Guangzhou, China. The company confirmed an investment of roughly $4.15 billion for the project and says the factory will use inkjet printing rather than traditional vacuum deposition to manufacture RGB OLED panels at scale. The plant is being billed as the world’s first large-scale 8.6G inkjet-printed OLED line, and TCL plans equipment installation through 2026 with mass production targeted for 2027.

Scale is the headline number here: TCL says T8 will be capable of producing 22,500 8.6G (2290 × 2620 mm)  substrates per month. Those big substrates can be cut into multiple panels for high-end tablets, laptops, and monitors, which is the facility’s initial target market. It's important to note that TCL isn’t promising TVs straight away; the company appears to be prioritising IT panels first, where OLED’s advantages in contrast and color are already highly prized, but premium pricing has limited adoption.

The critical technical difference is in the manufacturing process, that is, the use of this new inkjet printing method. Rather than depositing OLED materials via vacuum deposition (or using white OLED + color filters), the inkjet approach prints RGB OLED materials directly. TCL claims that this reduces material waste and could lower manufacturing costs by approximately 20% compared to conventional production techniques. Company leadership framed the T8 line as an attempt to integrate the entire OLED value chain, from materials to assembly, to create a more competitive, lower-cost production cluster.

Independent observers have flagged both the promise and the risk in play here. If TCL achieves the cost and yield improvements it projects, T8 could materially boost mid-size OLED supply and accelerate OLED adoption in laptops and monitors first. That extra capacity would put pressure on rival panel tech, including RGB-LED backlights and QD-OLED, to refine their own value and pricing strategies.

It could also provide an important counterweight to an industry that normally does not see cheaper OLED TVs at the highest end with LG’s largest offering, a 97-inch panel often lagging behind its competition including its own 83-inch version of the G5 TV; for context, the G5 97’ does not have MLA or LG’s Tandem tech built in, indicating there are limitations currently when it comes to yield, especially for larger sized panels. Market trackers like UBI Research expect OLED shipments to rise over the coming years, and T8’s capacity would be a significant contribution to that growth if throughput is healthy.

But the technical hurdles are real. Scaling a new printing process to reliable, high-yield mass production at 8.6G substrate size poses challenges around material formulation, nozzle precision, defect control, and long-term panel reliability. LG Display and Samsung Display still enjoy advantages in large-format yield maturity and experience, so TCL will need to demonstrate consistent longevity and color stability to win OEM confidence.

For consumers, the earliest impacts will likely be seen in premium laptops and monitors rather than TVs. Over the longer term, however, a successful T8 ramp could mean more supply, stronger competition, and gradual price pressure on premium OLED panels. The industry will be watching equipment installs through 2026 and the first mass-produced printed panels in 2027 as the clearest signals of whether TCL’s $4.15 billion wager pays off.