Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (
Chi Mei, based in Tainan, will sell all shares in International Display Technology (IDTech) to Sony for ?18.5 billion (about US$177 billion), according to the statement.
The deal is expected to close in March of this year, the statement added.
"The deal will have a positive effect on Chi Mei, as the less-effective plant owned by IDTech has become a burden for Chi Mei," said Tim Chen (
Chen added that the offer was quite reasonable, as the price corresponded with the ?18 billion Chi Mei paid for IDTech equipment in 2001.
Chi Mei said yesterday that its consolidated sales reached NT$8.14 billion (US$253 million) last month, down 22.4 percent from December a year ago and 14.1 percent lower than November's figure. For the whole of 2004, the company's revenues amounted to NT$119.26 billion, with output of large flat panels totalling 14.16 million units.
Chi Mei's strong rival AU Optronics Corp (
On the local bourse, shares of Chi Mei closed down 2.5 percent at NT$39.5, while that of AU Optronics was also down 2.5 percent to NT$41.8.
Chi Mei's sale of its IDTech unit to Sony will complement the Japanese company's present low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) thin-film transistor (TFT) and LCD manufacturing base, which was established in 1997 as the STLCD Corp, to provide flat panels for mobile products, including cellphones and digital cameras, Sony said in the statement.
STLCD Corp is a joint venture between Sony and Toyota Industries Corp.
Commercial mass production for LTPS-TFT-LCD display panels is scheduled to start in April 2006, according to Sony.
The Japanese consumer-electronics manufacturer is making more of its own components to make it tougher for rivals to copy its technology and help counter falling prices.
The purchase will make it easier for the company to develop new products to meet growing demand, said Harumi Asai, a Sony spokeswoman in Tokyo.
"It adds to our flexibility," Asai said. "If we have to purchase components we often have to disclose some of our intellectual property and we want to limit that."
Global digital camera shipments are expected to rise 22 percent to 83.4 million units this year, according to New York-based market researcher International Data Corp.
TECH TITAN: Pandemic-era demand for semiconductors turbocharged the nation’s GDP per capita to surpass South Korea’s, but it still remains half that of Singapore Taiwan is set to surpass South Korea this year in terms of wealth for the first time in more than two decades, marking a shift in Asia’s economic ranks made possible by the ascent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). According to the latest forecasts released on Thursday by the central bank, Taiwan’s GDP is expected to expand 4.55 percent this year, a further upward revision from the 4.45 percent estimate made by the statistics bureau last month. The growth trajectory puts Taiwan on track to exceed South Korea’s GDP per capita — a key measure of living standards — a
Samsung Electronics Co shares jumped 4.47 percent yesterday after reports it has won approval from Nvidia Corp for the use of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which marks a breakthrough for the South Korean technology leader. The stock closed at 83,500 won in Seoul, the highest since July 31 last year. Yesterday’s gain comes after local media, including the Korea Economic Daily, reported that Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3E product recently passed Nvidia’s qualification tests. That clears the components for use in the artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators essential to the training of AI models from ChatGPT to DeepSeek (深度求索), and finally allows Samsung
READY TO HELP: Should TSMC require assistance, the government would fully cooperate in helping to speed up the establishment of the Chiayi plant, an official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its investment plans in Taiwan are “unchanged” amid speculation that the chipmaker might have suspended construction work on its second chip packaging plant in Chiayi County and plans to move equipment arranged for the plant to the US. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported earlier yesterday that TSMC had halted the construction of the chip packaging plant, which was scheduled to be completed next year and begin mass production in 2028. TSMC did not directly address whether construction of the plant had halted, but said its investment plans in Taiwan remain “unchanged.” The chipmaker started
MORTGAGE WORRIES: About 34% of respondents to a survey said they would approach multiple lenders to pay for a home, while 29.2% said they would ask family for help New housing projects in Taiwan’s six special municipalities, as well as Hsinchu city and county, are projected to total NT$710.65 billion (US$23.61 billion) in the upcoming fall sales season, a record 30 percent decrease from a year earlier, as tighter mortgage rules prompt developers to pull back, property listing platform 591.com (591新建案) said yesterday. The number of projects has also fallen to 312, a more than 20 percent decrease year-on-year, underscoring weakening sentiment and momentum amid lingering policy and financing headwinds. New Taipei City and Taoyuan bucked the downturn in project value, while Taipei, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung