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Samsung Electronics mulls venture with Japan's Sony

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co said yesterday that it is reviewing plans to set up a joint venture with Sony Corp to manufacture liquid-crystal-display monitors.

A Samsung spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires that the company will reveal the plans in a disclosure to the Financial Supervisory Service, but he didn't say when.

Earlier yesterday, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that the two electronics giants will jointly create a company that could rival LG Philips LCD, a 50-50 joint venture between South Korea's LG Electronics Inc and Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands.

LCDs are mainly used as monitors for laptop computers but the slim, flat-panel devices are increasingly replacing the bulky, conventional cathode ray tubes used in PCs and high-priced TV sets.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified Samsung official as saying that talks on the tie-up with Sony began six months ago and "the details are expected to be completed by the end of this year."

A Samsung spokesman declined comment, saying "nothing has been determined at this time."

The JoongAng Ilbo quoted industry sources as saying the two companies are negotiating investment terms, with Samsung possibly handling management and production, while Sony would be responsible for marketing and finance.

Yonhap said the LCDs will likely be manufactured at Samsung's plant in Asan.

Samsung is the world's largest producer of computer memory chips and the world's second largest maker of LCDs. It also makes mobile handsets, home appliances and flat panel displays.
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