Slated to be completed in October, AUO and Quanta give their South Korean competition a run for their money
AU Optics (AUO), the fourth largest producer of LCD panels in the world has announced its plans to merge with Quanta Display Inc. (QDI). According to AUO, the full merger will take place in October of this year, consolidating assets and employees from both companies.
The merger, according to AUO, is designed to enable AUO to be more competitive in the LCD market with competition in South Korea, such as LG, and Samsung. Upon the complete absorption of QDI, AUO's global market share will exceed 19% for LCD production and sales which gives it a strong edge. Bringing on a number of high profile customers from QDI, analysts believe the merger will bring significant growth for AUO.
First, the supply chain consolidation will be essential to the purchase of key components and the close partnership with supplier. Secondly, the research and development consolidation will expand design expertise and solidify a robust intellectual property portfolio. Lastly, the consolidation will leverage mutually complementary product portfolio of the two companies, especially in NB and TV applications, to increase a more completed customer portfolio.
Previously, QDI was producing products from notable tier 1 OEMs such as Apple, HP, Philips, and Sanyo. Interestingly, QDI and Sanyo recently penned a joint venture to produce flat panel displays, more so to help bring Sanyo out of a rather dismal situation with market share. If the venture between QDI and Sanyo holds through the merger, Sanyo could be witnessing substantial gains. QDI also recently won contracts with Apple to produce iPod components.
According to AUO, after the merger is complete, the consolidated company will operated under the AUO name. AUO currently operates several LCD manufacturing facilities capable of producing panels ranging from 1.5-inches to 46-inches. AUO is currently building its 7.5 generation manufacturing facility, slated to be completed by Q4'06.
"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer
|
Most Popular ArticlesBerkeley Trains "Harmless" Viruses to Harvest Human Kinetic Energy
May 15, 2012, 12:01 PM
Quick Note: Verizon Wireless Clarifies Stance on Unlimited LTE Data
May 18, 2012, 8:08 AM
HTC Implements Workaround to Apple's Patent for Evo 4G LTE, One X
May 17, 2012, 4:35 PM
DDOS Attack Cripples The Pirate Bay
May 16, 2012, 1:42 PM
Game Over? Apple's Bid to Kill HTC Nears Fruition as ITC Blocks Imports
May 16, 2012, 11:35 AM
|
