Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), the world’s biggest notebook computer maker, announced last night that it would form a joint venture with LG Display Co in China, four days after the announcement of a TV module venture in China between local contract maker Wistron Corp (緯創) and flat-panel maker AU Optronics Corp (友達光電).
Compal “is in talks with LG Display to set up a joint venture in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China,” the Neihu, Taipei-based company said in an e-mailed statement.
The joint venture will be focusing on the production and sales of the notebook related components, Compal said.
If the two companies’ plan to establish a joint venture moves forward as expected, it would be the latest example of partnership between contract electronics makers and flat-panel makers to produce TVs and monitors.
On Friday, Wistron and AU Optronics announced the establishment of a US$10 million TV module assembly venture in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, a move that would help the panel maker to secure a stable demand of its products even during the industrial downturn.
Compal yesterday did not specify the format of the potential collaboration nor the size of the venture.
“The details of the joint venture are still under negotiation and not finalized,” the company said in the statement.
The joint venture “will be part of the company’s vertical integration of its component supply chain,” company spokesman and vice president Gary Lu (呂清雄) told the Taipei Times by telephone last night.
Earlier yesterday, Lu denied that there were any talks of a venture with LG Display, while the South Korean company, the world’s second-largest LCD panel maker by revenue after Samsung Electronics Co, had already confirmed the news to both Reuters and Dow Jones.
In addition to its talks with Compal, LG Display announced in November last year the launch of a US$34 million joint TV venture with Hong Kong-listed monitor maker TPV Technology Ltd (冠捷科技) to create L&T Display Technology Ltd (樂捷顯示科技) in Xiamen.
In September 2008, the Korean company also teamed up with Taiwan’s Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒科技) to set up a LCD TV assembly venture, Suzhou Raken Technology Ltd (樂軒), in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LISA WANG
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