Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba unite on phone and tablet LCDs
updated 07:25 am EDT, Wed August 31, 2011
Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba join small LCD production
Sony, Hitachi, and Toshiba on Wednesday confirmed an alliance to work together on mobile LCDs. The deal, helped by $2.6 billion in government funds, will see them share production on displays for smartphones and tablets. They plan to research more advanced displays as well, such as OLEDs
The trio hope to formally complete the deal by spring 2012.
For the three, the union is a defensive measure against Korean companies like LG and Samsung as well as Taiwanese firms like Chimei Innolux. Even combined, Hitachi, Sony, and Toshiba will make up 21.5 percent of the market for mobile displays. The share will be enough to outrun Japanese rival Sharp at 14.8 percent and Samsung at 11.9 percent, but it will have enough share to be picked over others due to sheer capacity.
They may be hoping to attract business from Apple. The American firm is supposedly investing $1 billion in Sharp to make sure it can produce enough iPad and iPhone displays to meet demand. [image via Reuters]
