AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel maker, yesterday said its board had approved plans to build two TV panel module assembly joint ventures in China, aiming to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing Chinese market.
The investments with Chinese TV makers TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Ltd and Haier Group (海爾) are the latest efforts by AU Optronics to deepen its partnership with Chinese TV makers to fend off growing competition from the newly merged Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子).
Last summer, AU Optronics formed a TV panel assembly venture with a smaller Chinese TV maker, Changhong Electric Co (長虹), in Sichuan Province, China.
“With the new business model of allying with its leading brand customer, AU Optronics can not only ensure stable product shipments, but also provide TCL on-time and value-added services to seize global business opportunities together,” a company statement said yesterday.
AU Optronics and a TCL subsidiary, TCL King Electrical Appliances (Hui Zhou) Co (TCL, 王牌電器), plan to invest US$12 million initially on the TV panel module assembly venture in Guangdong Province, the statement said. AU Optronics would own 51 percent of Huizhou Bri-King Optronics Co Ltd (智翔光電), while TCL King Electrical would hold 49 percent.
Last year, AU Optronics grabbed a 15 percent share of the Chinese LCD TV panel market, lagging far behind the combined market shares of Chi Mei Optoelectronics and Innolux, which captured 31 percent, figures from market researcher DisplaySearch showed.
TCL, the third-largest LCD TV maker in China, shipped 4.6 million LCD TVs last year and aims to expand shipments to at least 6 million units this year, DisplaySearch said.
In a separate statement, the Hsinchu-based panel maker said the board also gave the go-ahead to set up another LCD TV panel module factory with Haier in Qingdao, Shandong Province, with initial investment totaling US$7 million.
AU Optronics would hold 70 percent of the venture, Qingdao Haier Optronics Co Ltd (青島海爾光電), while Haier would own 30 percent. Haier ranks No. 6 among Chinese TV makers.
It plans to ship 2 million LCD TVs this year, up from last year’s 1.3 million units, DisplaySearch said.
AU Optronics’ board also approved issuing up to US$800 million in corporate bonds and will use the proceeds to buy equipment.
RECYCLE: Taiwan would aid manufacturers in refining rare earths from discarded appliances, which would fit the nation’s circular economy goals, minister Kung said Taiwan would work with the US and Japan on a proposed cooperation initiative in response to Beijing’s newly announced rare earth export curbs, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. China last week announced new restrictions requiring companies to obtain export licenses if their products contain more than 0.1 percent of Chinese-origin rare earths by value. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Wednesday responded by saying that Beijing was “unreliable” in its rare earths exports, adding that the US would “neither be commanded, nor controlled” by China, several media outlets reported. Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato yesterday also
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said it expects peak season effects in the fourth quarter to continue to boost demand for passenger flights and cargo services, after reporting its second-highest-ever September sales on Monday. The carrier said it posted NT$15.88 billion (US$517 million) in consolidated sales last month, trailing only September last year’s NT$16.01 billion. Last month, CAL generated NT$8.77 billion from its passenger flights and NT$5.37 billion from cargo services, it said. In the first nine months of this year, the carrier posted NT$154.93 billion in cumulative sales, up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest level for the January-September
‘DRAMATIC AND POSITIVE’: AI growth would be better than it previously forecast and would stay robust even if the Chinese market became inaccessible for customers, it said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday raised its full-year revenue growth outlook after posting record profit for last quarter, despite growing market concern about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. The company said it expects revenue to expand about 35 percent year-on-year, driven mainly by faster-than-expected demand for leading-edge chips for AI applications. The world’s biggest contract chipmaker in July projected that revenue this year would expand about 30 percent in US dollar terms. The company also slightly hiked its capital expenditure for this year to US$40 billion to US$42 billion, compared with US$38 billion to US$42 billion it set previously. “AI demand actually
RSS