TCL Chairman Visits Taiwan to Finalize TV-panel Orders
Feb 23, 2006 Ι Industry In-Focus
Ι Electronics and Computers Ι By Quincy, CENS
Taipei, Feb. 23, 2006 (CENS)--To finalize his group's thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel procurement with Taiwanese makers, Tomson (Dongsheng) Li, chairman of the TCL Group of mainland China, the world's largest TV manufacturer (with brands of TCL, Thomson, and RCA), recently visited several panel suppliers in Taiwan, according to industry sources.
The sources said that Li called upon the top-three local panel suppliers AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), and Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (CPT), for panel-supply deals. TCL shipped about 1.2 million LCD TVs last year, and the volume is expected to double this year. Taiwan panel suppliers are expected to supply about half of the panels used on TCL' s LCD TVs, the sources said.
TCL just signed a letter of intent (LOI) on cooperation with LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd. (LPL) of South Korea on February 20 and plans to procure over-30-inch TV panels from the Korean supplier. Industry sources deemed that Li came to Taiwan mainly to consolidate TCL's relationships with local panel makers.
TCL procured mainly under-32-inch (excluding) TV panels from Taiwan suppliers. As Taiwan's AUO, CMO and CPT will have new capacities this year, the Chinese TV maker's procurement from the island is expected to expand into 32-, 37-, 42-inch, or even-larger products this year.
A local panel maker pointed out that Li came to Taiwan to understand Taiwan panel suppliers' production conditions, especially the mass-production schedules for their new-generation panel facilities. Currently, CMO is the largest Taiwan panel supplier to TCL, and it recently announced plans to set up a LCD module (LCM) assembly plant in Shengzhen, Guangdong Province of mainland China, the same province of TCL's headquarters.
Last year, Li also visited Taiwan to meet with some customers and announced that TCL would set up an air-conditioner compressor plant in Guangdong in cooperation with Taiwan's Sampo Co. In addition to procuring TFT-LCD panels from Taiwan, TCL also commissions local BenQ Corp. (AUO's affiliate) to contract supply some LCD TV models.
The sources said that Li called upon the top-three local panel suppliers AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), and Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (CPT), for panel-supply deals. TCL shipped about 1.2 million LCD TVs last year, and the volume is expected to double this year. Taiwan panel suppliers are expected to supply about half of the panels used on TCL' s LCD TVs, the sources said.
TCL just signed a letter of intent (LOI) on cooperation with LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd. (LPL) of South Korea on February 20 and plans to procure over-30-inch TV panels from the Korean supplier. Industry sources deemed that Li came to Taiwan mainly to consolidate TCL's relationships with local panel makers.
TCL procured mainly under-32-inch (excluding) TV panels from Taiwan suppliers. As Taiwan's AUO, CMO and CPT will have new capacities this year, the Chinese TV maker's procurement from the island is expected to expand into 32-, 37-, 42-inch, or even-larger products this year.
A local panel maker pointed out that Li came to Taiwan to understand Taiwan panel suppliers' production conditions, especially the mass-production schedules for their new-generation panel facilities. Currently, CMO is the largest Taiwan panel supplier to TCL, and it recently announced plans to set up a LCD module (LCM) assembly plant in Shengzhen, Guangdong Province of mainland China, the same province of TCL's headquarters.
Last year, Li also visited Taiwan to meet with some customers and announced that TCL would set up an air-conditioner compressor plant in Guangdong in cooperation with Taiwan's Sampo Co. In addition to procuring TFT-LCD panels from Taiwan, TCL also commissions local BenQ Corp. (AUO's affiliate) to contract supply some LCD TV models.
| TCL's LCD TV-Panel Suppliers | |
| Size | Suppliers |
| Under-20" | AUO, Samsung, CPT |
| 20" | LPL, CMO, CPT |
| 20"-29" | AUO, CMO |
| 30"-32" | LPL, CMO |
| 37" | LPL |
| 40"-42" | Samsung, LPL |
| Source: The companies. | |
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