AU Optronics Enters Tablet PC Display Business

AU Optronics is starting volume delivery of tablet displays as it capitalizes on its acquisition of Toshiba Mobile Display’s low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) factory, company officials told analysts in a conference call.

AU is shipping 7- to 10-inch tablet panels with 1,064x600 and 1,280x800 resolutions and incorporating LTPS technology, company officials said. Tablet shipments are forecast to hit 42 million units this year from 16 million in 2010, industry officials said.

The push into tablets comes as AU Optronics nears the first anniversary of its purchase of Toshiba Mobile Display’s LTPS factory in Singapore (CED April 1 p3). AU has monthly capacity for LTPS panels along a 3.5-generation line of 20,000 substrates. At its 4.5G facility in Singapore, the monthly capacity is 45,000 substrates, company officials said.

AU also is starting production of touch-panel products for tablets in Q1, Executive Vice President Paul Peng said. Touch panel sensors are being made using half the capacity of a 4G line, Peng said. A 5G line will be used for touch panels in the future, he said. The touch panel technology will be incorporated in the tablet displays, Peng said.

AU Optronics expects losses to slow in Q1 as prices for large-size panels start rising in March, Peng said.

The prices for IT panels stabilized in Q4, but those for TVs fell 20 percent in October and November, acting President Max Cheng said. TV panel shipments will be flat or drop slightly in Q1, and PC panel deliveries will increase, Cheng said. TV panel prices will be flat from the previous quarter while those for PC panels rise, he said. Shipments of small-to-midsize panels will drop slightly, Cheng said. Factory utilization is expected be 85 percent of capacity, up from 71 percent in the fall, company officials said.