AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s biggest liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker, said yesterday its board had approved a plan to form a joint venture with China’s No. 5 TV maker Sichuan Changlong Electric Co Ltd (長虹) to assemble TV panels in China, aiming to extend its reach in the world’s fastest-growing TV market.
AU Optronics said it believed China would outpace the US as the world’s biggest LCD TV market in a year or two.
“If the investment plan is approved by the government, the joint venture is expected to form closer ties between AU Optronics and the Chinese local brand maker, deepening AU Optronics’ presence in West China, in addition to the company’s existing business presences in East China and South China,” AU Optronics said in the statement.
LCD TV shipments in China are expected to grow by a faster-than-expected pace to 23.6 million units this year, making up nearly one-fifth of the 127 million global LCD TV shipments, DisplaySearch said in a recent forecast. The researcher originally estimated the shipments in China would be 18.8 million units this year.
Shares of AU Optronics leapt 4.13 percent to NT$32.8, outpacing the benchmark TAIEX index’s 1.77 percent gain yesterday.
The Hsinchu-based panel maker planned to invest 100 million Chinese yuan (US$15 million) in the venture, BVCH Optronics (Sichuan) Corp (長智光電(四川)有限公司), in the initial stage, allowing it to hold a 51-percent stake. Sichuan Changlong will own the remaining 49-percent share, it said.
AU Optronics said it expected the company to start operation in the fourth quarter of this year at the earliest. BVCH Optronics will make LCD monitors, LCD TVs, photonic products and other components used in the LCD panels, as well as provide maintenance services, the statement said.
“We believe the cooperation will have a positive impact on AU Optronics in terms of revenue and profit,” said Dale Gai (�?s), a flat-panel analyst with Yuanta Securities (元大京華證券), by telephone.
“It will be a more cost-effective way for local panel makers to build next-generation, such as seventh-generation [7G], plants, in China,” Gai said.
At present, the government only allows local companies to assemble LCD panel modules in China, but the Ministry of Economic Affairs has said it will review restrictions on various industries in a meeting scheduled for next month.
Gai expected orders from Changlong to account for a mere 5 percent of AU Optronics’ TV panel shipments this year.
In a separate statement, AU Optronics said the board had given the green light to a preliminary plan to invest US$125 million in Japanese polysilicon and monocrystal silicon wafer maker M. Setek by subscribing in new shares — an aggressive attempt to diversify into the green energy industry. AU Optronics will eventually purchase more than 50 percent of M. Setek shares, it said.
Last month, AU Optronics spun off a solar business unit, creating the subsidiary AUO Energy Taiwan Corp (AET, 友達能源技術公司), which will offer services such as installation of solar energy systems and other renewable energy sources for industrial facilities, company buildings and households.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
Memory chip stocks extended their losses yesterday after Alphabet Inc’s Google publicized research that could allow more efficient use of the storage needed for artificial intelligence (AI) development. SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, South Korean leaders in the market, fell more than 6 percent and about 5 percent respectively in Seoul. In the US, Micron Technology Inc, Western Digital Corp and Sandisk Corp slid more than 2 percent in pre-market trading, after they all closed lower on Wednesday. Memory companies have been on a tear in recent months as the rapid development of AI infrastructure triggered a spike in chip
RSS