Taipei,Sept.20,2012(CENS)--AU Optronics Corp.(AUO),a major maker of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display(TFT-LCD)panels in Taiwan,is expected to quadruple shipments to about six million TV panels to Sony of Japan in 2013,overtaking Samsung to be the largest TV-panel supplier to the major Japanese brand,according to industry sources.
AUO also has begun shipping medium-sized panels for Apple`s iPAD mini tablet PC.
AUO refused to comment on the increasing TV-panel shipments to Sony.Currently,Samsung is one of AUO`s major TV-panel customers.
A senior manager of WitsView Technology Corp.,a LCD market research firm,pointed out that Sony has canceled partnership with Samsung in S-LCD Corp.,a joint venture between the two firms,by selling its stake to the Korean company;while Sony is reducing panel purchases from Samsung.From 2013,he added,Sony is expected to maximize TV panel orders to AUO.
This year,industry sources said,AUO would supply less than one million TV panels to Sony,but the volume is expected to soar to some five to six million by 2013,accounting for more than 50%of Sony`s panel purchases.
Some industry insiders said that AUO already began mass production and shipments of 4.3-inch active matrix organic light-emit diode(AMOLED)cellphone panels to Sony in the third quarter.In addition,Sony has sent its people to AUO`s sixth-generation(6G)panel plant for joint development of AMOLED TV panels,which are expected to be announced in year-end.Panasonic,another major consumer-electronic vendor in Japan,is also expected to join Sony and AUO`s camp to jointly develop AMOLED TV panels.
AUO began delivering iPad mini-use panels to Apple in August,and has achieved normal yield-rate and shipment volume,with more than two million such panels per month.Industry sources estimated that AUO would upgrade its monthly iPad mini panel shipments to about five million units after October,when Apple debuts the new tablet model.
