AUO's AFPD Acquisition and Its Implications for Small- and Medium-size Panel Industry Development

• Publication date: April 2010

AUO (AU Optronics) announced on March 31, 2010, that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan's TMD (Toshiba Mobile Display) to buy TMD's Singapore subsidiary AFPD, a manufacturer of LTPS (Low Temperature Polysilicon) TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) panels. Facing stiff competition in the small- and medium-size panel industry, TMD shut down some production lines in 2009 and concentrated its production so as to redu...

AUO (AU Optronics) announced on March 31, 2010, that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan's TMD (Toshiba Mobile Display) to buy TMD's Singapore subsidiary AFPD, a manufacturer of LTPS (Low Temperature Polysilicon) TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) panels. Facing stiff competition in the small- and medium-size panel industry, TMD shut down some production lines in 2009 and concentrated its production so as to reduce losses. The sale of AFPD to AUO is seen as an indication of the difficult situation plaguing TMD. At the same time, the deal is expected to constitute part of AUO's further development in the small- and medium-size panel business. This report will analyze the impact of the AUO-TMD deal on the global small- and medium-size panel industry.

Hardware And Electronic Equipment Industry in Japan

Table of Contents

1. AUO's AFPD Acquisition and Its Strategic Implications
1.1 TMD Seeks to Survive by Concentrating Operations
1.2 AUO Seeks to Fill In the Gap in Production Lines
2. Conclusion
2.1 Maintaining Competitive Edge by Creating Differentiation
2.2 Industry Leaders Expected to Retain Advantages
Appendix

List of Topics

- Analyzing the strategic implications of AUO's AFPD acquisition for both Toshiba Mobile Display and AUO
- Projecting the influences of the deal on the development of the global small- and medium-size display panel industry
- Companies and organizations analyzed or mentioned in the report include: AFPD, AUO (AU Optronics), CMI (Chimei Innolux Corporation), CMO (Chi Mei Optoelectronics), Innolux Display, LG Display, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Mitsubishi, NEC, Samsung Mobile Display, Sharp, TMD (Toshiba Mobile Display), Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology, TPO Display