Taiwan Today

Taiwan’s thin-film-transistor liquid crystal display panel maker AU Optronics Corp. and mainland China’s Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. Ltd. announced plans to jointly set up an LC module assembly plant June 21. The proposal was passed June 18 at a board of directors meeting chaired by Sichuan Changhong President Zhao Yong. This will mark the first LCM plant jointly established by Taiwan’s panel makers and the mainland’s LCD television suppliers. The partnership is expected to generate more orders for AUO, while enabling Sichuan Changhong to cut costs and secure a steady supply of panels. As Taiwan’s panel makers are increasingly reliant on the mainland for exports, collaboration between the two sides will move a level up from mere procurements to joint ventures. Sichuan Changhong and AUO’s subsidiary BriView Electronics Corp. will invest 100 million Chinese yuan (US$14.63 million) in cash for the new venture, which will be located at the Gaoxing District in Mianyang, Sichuan Province. A part of Sichuan Changhong’s strategy for flat panel TVs, the move will enable the company to integrate the design of LCD TV and module production, and is expected to increase its overall competitiveness, the statement read. Sichuan Changhong, a listed company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange since March 1994, will come up with 49 million Chinese yuan for a 49-percent stake, with the remaining 51 percent to be held by AUO. AUO already has 100-percent owned LCM facilities in Suzhou and Xiamen. As the mainland’s LCD TV suppliers hold 78 percent of the local market, which is set to become the world’s largest buyer of such products, such partnerships between the two sides are set to become a trend. Other than AUO, Taiwan’s Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. has LCM plants in Ningbo and Nanhai, while Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd.’s facilities are located in Fuzhou and Wujiang. The mainland’s LCD TV suppliers, including TCL Corp., Haier Co. Ltd., Konka Group Co. Ltd, Skyworth Digital Group Ltd. and Hisense Group, can all be expected to team up with Taiwan’s panel producers in the future. According to AUO Chairman K.Y. Lee, emerging markets, including mainland China, have become a major source of growth for the panel industry. The mainland accounted for over 10 percent of AUO’s TV panel shipments in 2008, and the number has gone up to 25 percent so far this year. AUO will continue to increase its presence on the mainland, Lee said. (SFC-HZW)