Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密), the world’s biggest electronics manufacturing services provider, yesterday said it has sold a portion of its patent portfolio consisting of head-mounted display technology to Google Inc.
Hon Hai said in a statement its head-mounted display technology superimposes computer-generated images onto real-world scenes.
It did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
The technology can be used in ground displays, engineering and scientific design applications, gaming and video devices as well as for training and simulation tools, the company said.
Hon Hai owns more than 5,000 patents.
The patent purchase is Google’s latest investment aimed at accelerating the development of Google Glass.
On July 22, Google signed an agreement with Tainan-based chipmaker Himax Technologies (奇景光電) to buy a 6.3 percent stake in its subsidiary, Himax Display Inc (立景光電), to help boost Himax Display’s chip capacity. The deal is expected to be completed this quarter.
Himax Display makes LCOS chips for head-mounted displays such as in Google Glass and in pico projectors.
Separately, Innolux Corp (群創光電), the nation’s top LCD panel maker, yesterday said it is developing new automotive displays, targeting the fast-growing demand primarily from luxury cars.
Innolux said its 10.25-inch cluster displays for cars uses low-temperature-polysilicon (LTP) technology and said the product has exceeded customer’s requirements.
Innolux also develops a full-color head-up display (HUD) that projects driving information directly into the driver’s line of sight, and halves the time it takes for eyes to shift focus from the road to the instruments and back, the company said.
The 1.8-inch HUD has passed qualification tests by some European customers and Innolux said it expected the product to have significant revenue contribution within two years.
Last year, Innoux shipped 9 million units of automotive displays, which counts BMW and Mercedez-Benz as its top clients.
Shen Ta-yi (沈大逸), a director at Innolux, said the company focuses on developing automotive displays as the market is growing by a double-digit percentage each year.
Innolux held a 16 percent share of global automotive display market last year, trailing behind Sharp Corp and Japan Displays Co, market researcher NPD DisplaySearch’s data showed.
In the first quarter of this year, the company shipped 3.28 million units, bringing its market share to 22.2 percent, surpassing Sharp’s 19.9 percent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
RSS