AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel maker, yesterday said its board had approved plans to build two TV panel module assembly joint ventures in China, aiming to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing Chinese market.
The investments with Chinese TV makers TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Ltd and Haier Group (海爾) are the latest efforts by AU Optronics to deepen its partnership with Chinese TV makers to fend off growing competition from the newly merged Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子).
Last summer, AU Optronics formed a TV panel assembly venture with a smaller Chinese TV maker, Changhong Electric Co (長虹), in Sichuan Province, China.
“With the new business model of allying with its leading brand customer, AU Optronics can not only ensure stable product shipments, but also provide TCL on-time and value-added services to seize global business opportunities together,” a company statement said yesterday.
AU Optronics and a TCL subsidiary, TCL King Electrical Appliances (Hui Zhou) Co (TCL, 王牌電器), plan to invest US$12 million initially on the TV panel module assembly venture in Guangdong Province, the statement said. AU Optronics would own 51 percent of Huizhou Bri-King Optronics Co Ltd (智翔光電), while TCL King Electrical would hold 49 percent.
Last year, AU Optronics grabbed a 15 percent share of the Chinese LCD TV panel market, lagging far behind the combined market shares of Chi Mei Optoelectronics and Innolux, which captured 31 percent, figures from market researcher DisplaySearch showed.
TCL, the third-largest LCD TV maker in China, shipped 4.6 million LCD TVs last year and aims to expand shipments to at least 6 million units this year, DisplaySearch said.
In a separate statement, the Hsinchu-based panel maker said the board also gave the go-ahead to set up another LCD TV panel module factory with Haier in Qingdao, Shandong Province, with initial investment totaling US$7 million.
AU Optronics would hold 70 percent of the venture, Qingdao Haier Optronics Co Ltd (青島海爾光電), while Haier would own 30 percent. Haier ranks No. 6 among Chinese TV makers.
It plans to ship 2 million LCD TVs this year, up from last year’s 1.3 million units, DisplaySearch said.
AU Optronics’ board also approved issuing up to US$800 million in corporate bonds and will use the proceeds to buy equipment.
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Anna Paulson on Thursday joined the chorus of policymakers saying additional interest-rate increases may be needed to ensure inflation returns to the central bank’s 2 percent goal. “Looking ahead, if conditions evolve as I expect, some modest further tightening may be warranted,” Paulson said on Thursday at an event in Philadelphia. Earlier on Thursday, New York Fed President John Williams said he and his colleagues “still have a lot of work to do” in dealing with lingering inflation risks. Several other officials have aired similar comments, in line with the signal given last week when policymakers voted
COURSE CHANGE: The shift comes amid pressure from chipmakers for stable, low-carbon electricity. Officials said Ma-anshan could be restarted as early as 2028 Taiwan has approved a preliminary plan to restart an idled atomic power plant, marking a reversal of the ruling party’s anti-nuclear stance as the nation pursues greater energy security. The Nuclear Safety Commission has cleared its review of an initial proposal to restart the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, it said in a statement on Thursday. Taiwan Power Co (台電) will still need to carry out follow-up work including safety inspections, before submitting another report on implementation for review, the commission said. The earliest the plant could resume operations is 2028, according to previous reports in local media, citing Minister of Economic Affairs
MINIMAL EXPECTATIONS: Analysts think that the two sides are likely to aim for ‘status quo’-level agreements, maintaining civility, without major trade breakthroughs US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were set to meet yesterday to try to set up potential agreements on artificial intelligence (AI), tariffs and critical minerals for a summit in Washington this week between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The meetings at JPMorgan Chase & Co’s headquarters in Manhattan, which included US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, were due to start at about 10:30am on Sunday morning and were expected to run all day. Key topics would be the status of a US-China trade truce that is set to expire
GlobalFoundries Inc yesterday said it plans to accelerate global capacity optimization and expansion to accommodate exponential growth in radio frequency (RF) and other chips driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Singapore will pay a vital role in the company’s capacity expansion, alongside production line optimizations across its manufacturing sites, GlobalFoundries Asia Pacific head Vincent Feng (范曾文) told a news conference in Hsinchu City. “Many might be surprised to hear that the RF market is thriving now. We are gearing up for a massive capacity expansion, and it is all being driven by AI,” Feng said. He declined to disclose details of the
RSS