AUO's Production Lines Busy with Flowing Orders

Steady flow of big orders is keeping busy production lines at AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), the second-largest thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturer in Taiwan, regardless of size of panels.

A senior manager of the Lenovo Group in China recently visited Taiwan and promised to purchase US$3 billion of panels, including about US$1 billion from AUO.

Paul Semenza, NPD Displaysearch's analyst, said recently that iPad mini's touch panels will be mass produced in August, and AUO, major supplier of these panels, is expected to enjoy explosive revenue gain, on which AUO refused to comment.

Industry insiders disclosed that iPad mini's touch panels have been produced by AUO's L5C fifth-generation panel plant and shipped to Apple after the panel supplier solved problems in yield rate, substrate-thinning etc., and that Apple has certified the panels, as well as having ordered initial monthly some two million panels.

Insiders of Apple's supply chain said that iPad mini's shipments this year are expected to range 10 million to 15 million units, and the new tablet PC model is expected to become the most popular product after iPhone.

In addition to panels for iPad mini, AUO is also working with Apple on developing panels for the new iPod, which will reportedly be announced late this year.

From September, AUO is expected to ship more TV panels to Samsung and Sony for the coming Christmas season, industry sources added.

source & copyright: CENS