拚韓攻AMOLED面板 台廠要加油

2011.02.04   【中央社╱台北4日電】



主動有機發光二極體(AMOLED)面板已成智慧型手機面板新寵，全球最大面板廠韓國三星電子市占率高達9成，樂金顯示器也已併購柯達AMOLED技術部門，台廠剛起步，拚韓廠要加把勁。
工業技術研究院產業分析師劉美君表示，主動有機發光二極體面板採自發光，無背光源；體積輕薄、色彩飽和度佳，且強光下的可視性也很好，適合智慧型手機等手持式裝置使用。
劉美君表示，三星電子的主動有機發光二極體技術來自日本NEC，但多年前兩家公司結束合作關係，三星獨自發展，並成為全球最大的主動有機發光二極體面板廠商。
不過，與三星電子爭奪全球面板龍頭寶座的樂金顯示器 (LGD)不甘居於下風，積極投入主動有機發光二極體面板市場，並在去年併購這方面技術最領先的柯達的技術部門。
她說，不論樂金顯示器是否可以馬上追上三星電子的AMOLED市占率，但併購最先研發AMOLED技術的柯達，至少技術層次絕對不落後，未來仍有機會提高市占率。
反觀台廠，除奇美電子已量產AMOLED面板外，友達光電今年可望量產，但與韓廠相較，市占率明顯偏低。
光電科技工業協進會產業分析師胡仕儀指出，雖然韓國三星電子在主動有機發光二極體面板市占率極高，去年超過 9成，預估台灣的奇美電子、友達光電今年底合計市占率可達23%，明年可望超過30%。
2010年主動有機發光二極體面板應用範圍方面，手機占91%、數位相機占3%、電視占2%、MP3占2%、車用市場占1%、其他1%。

夏普奇美攜手 提高面板競爭力

2011.02.04    【中央社╱東京4日專電】



「日本經濟新聞」4日報導，日本夏普（Sharp）公司將和台灣奇美電子公司合作，分擔液晶面板的生產以提高價格競爭力，針對向新興國家市場開發產品的電視廠商促銷。
台灣鴻海精密工業旗下企業奇美，2009年在全球10吋以上電視液晶面板市場占有率排名第3，夏普則排名第5，兩家公司單獨計算，合計占有率達22.8%，將緊追全球排名第2、市占率24.9%的南韓LG公司。
報導指出，夏普將提供奇美節能的最新面板技術，再由奇美籌措較便宜的中型面板，夏普則供應大型面板給奇美，相互供給各具競爭力的面板，向進軍新興市場的電視廠商促銷。
夏普將提供奇美的是節省電力的液晶面板技術，再委託奇美生產夏普價格競爭力較弱的20吋-30吋型電視用面板，同時也供應奇美40吋型以上的大型面板，雙方已簽署技術提供契約，計劃年內開始相互提供面板。
日經指出，台日韓電視用面板廠商競爭日趨激烈，在這種情況下，為發揮各自優勢，在產品上互補而進行合作尚屬首次，將加速液晶面板業界的重整。
報導指出，奇美將經由和夏普的合作而逐次取得節能和提高面板附加價值的技術，並擴大來自夏普的委託生產而提高營收，夏普則經由奇美供給具有價格競爭力的中型面板來齊全產品種類。

吉利富豪卡車 傳裕隆代工

2011.02.01   【經濟日報╱記者邱馨儀／台北報導】

裕隆集團開春即傳出接單喜訊，大陸吉利集團在併購瑞典富豪汽車（VOLVO）後，加強亞洲布局，將對裕隆下單，初期以卡車為主，明年將擴展到汽車，也是預先布局爭取兩岸ECFA未來整車輸出商機。

經濟日報／提供

裕隆公司對此則表示，並未聽說上述的說法。裕隆與吉利集團之前即有合作，裕隆目前銷售的酷比即是吉利的車款，在台由裕隆代工，此外裕隆代工的產品還有裕日車、納智捷等品牌，由於歐洲品牌一向在汽車業具有技術指標的地位，此舉將使裕隆組車技術更上一層樓。

吉利集團總裁楊健之前來台時即表示，吉利集團為大陸最大民營汽車製造商，吉利汽車去年產銷規模為40萬輛，將在五年內擴展到200萬輛的規模。在楊健來台後市場即傳出，吉利與裕隆兩大集團高層已進行進一步對話，將繼裕隆酷比的合作後，進一步擴大合作關係。由於吉利集團收購富豪汽車，將在大陸大規模設廠、擴展大陸市場，雙方將進一步合作，共創更大的效益。

但由於富豪在大陸生產據點尚未決定，同時整車生產需要相當的磨合期，預期大單釋出將等到明年初。吉利集團與台灣汽車產業合作關係密切，在零組件部分對台灣14家零組件廠商下單，範圍涵蓋汽車電子、模具、座椅、儀表盤等，合作對象包括晶圓大廠聯電、信昌與原創等。未來吉利結合台灣相關廠商擴展智慧電能車，可望繼續擴大合作採購關係。

吉利目前與裕隆已有相當好的合作關係，雙方繼合作發展吉利的熊貓與裕隆酷比車之外，已開始討論第二款合作車款，一旦ECFA納入整車後，進一步的合作計畫即可快速啟動。此外吉利與裕隆合作開發酷比電動車，已經可以試乘，未來將共拓大陸電動車市場。

Sony Net Slips 8.6%, Hit by TV Results

FEBRUARY 3, 2011   THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI

TOKYO—Hurt by cutthroat market conditions crimping television earnings across the electronics industry, Sony Corp. posted an 8.6% decline in quarterly profit and scaled back its sales targets for liquid-crystal-display TV sets.

After similarly grim television-business results from Panasonic Corp., LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Sony said its TV unit posted a loss of 13 billion yen ($159 million) for the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31. Sony expects further losses in the current quarter.

Sony posted an overall net profit of 72.3 billion yen, or $887 million, in the October-December quarter versus a net profit of 79.2 billion yen a year earlier.

The TV industry continues to roll out new products, offering thinner sets with larger screens or 3-D capability in an attempt to expand profit margins. But that strategy is rarely successful, with manufacturers quick to outdo one another with price cuts even as the overall market continues to grow.

View Full Image

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Sony TVs on display at a Tokyo electronics shop

Exacerbating the problem for Japanese TV makers is the strong yen, which makes their products more expensive abroad and eats into money earned overseas when brought back to Japan. While operating profit fell 6% in the quarter, Sony said group operating profit would have risen 22% without the impact from the yen's appreciation.

Last May, Sony set an aggressive target to increase LCD TV sales by 60% to 25 million units in the current fiscal year to March, but U.S. demand started to lag during the summer. Those conditions continued into the holiday shopping period, and Sony reduced its sales target to 23 million units on Thursday.

The company had also set an earnings goal of breaking even in the TV business for this fiscal year, but Sony has abandoned that target. The biggest factor, according to Sony Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato, is that the company had to pay more to secure LCD panels than it had expected.

"Based on what we are hearing from other companies, the TV business as an industry seems to have trouble increasing earnings," Mr. Kato said. "But it's a critical business and it's not one that we can just give up on because we aren't making money, so we have to keep trying to improve the situation."

Sony's TV business, which is on track to be unprofitable for a seventh straight year, is the one major headache for the company amid an otherwise impressive earnings turnaround. Sony has reversed losses at its game business, and its Sony Ericsson mobile-phone joint venture has also turned profitable with a shift to smartphones.

For the full fiscal year to March 31, Sony maintained its forecast for a net profit of 70 billion yen and an operating profit of 200 billion yen, although it trimmed its revenue forecast to 7.2 trillion yen from 7.4 trillion yen.

Based on that outlook, Sony expects a net loss of about 58 billion yen in the three months ending in March. The fiscal fourth quarter is historically a weak quarter for the company as sales drop sharply after the holiday shopping season. Mr. Kato said Sony is taking a "conservative" view of the quarter.

Sony's outlook is based on the assumption the dollar will average 82 yen and the euro will average 110 yen for the January-to-March quarter. On Thursday in Asian trading, the dollar was at 81.60 yen and the euro was at 112.62 yen.

Sony generates about 70% of its sales outside Japan, making the company vulnerable to the yen's appreciation. Each one-yen fall in the euro's average rate shaves seven billion yen off its full-year operating profit, and a one-yen drop in the dollar's average foreign-exchange rate for the full year reduces operating profit by two billion yen. Revenue slipped 1.4% from a year earlier to 2.206 trillion yen in the most recent quarter, while operating profit dropped 5.9% to 137.5 billion yen.

Operating profit at Sony's main consumer-electronics unit halved from a year earlier to 26.8 billion yen, but the company's networked products and services division, home to its PlayStation videogame business, more than doubled its operating profit to 45.7 billion yen.

One bright spot for Japanese electronics companies was the domestic TV market, which got a boost from a government-stimulus program that provided incentives for consumers to trade in old television sets for more energy-efficient models.

Rival Sharp Corp. said it sold twice as many TV sets in Japan during the October-December quarter versus the same period a year earlier. Accounting for roughly 40% of the Japanese television market, where profit margins tend to be higher, Sharp said it expects the TV business to be profitable in the year to March.

But even the strong domestic demand is expected to fade in the coming fiscal year starting in April once the government halts the stimulus program at the end of March. Sales already plunged after Japan scaled back the program in December.

As a group, Sharp posted a 19% decline in net profit after incurring restructuring charges at its LCD panel unit.

Write to Daisuke Wakabayashi at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com

A Fork in the Road for Pharmaceuticals

FEBRUARY 3, 2011    THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By HESTER PLUMRIDGE

Already this week, Pfizer has responded to coming threats to drug sales and near-historic low stock-market multiples by cutting costs, GlaxoSmithKline is selling a noncore business, possibly to fund a share buyback, and Sanofi-Aventis has stepped up its pursuit of U.S. biotech firmGenzyme. But which course of treatment will prove most effective?

Annual results confirm that patent expirations on best-seller drugs are starting to bite.AstraZeneca's 2010 sales rose only marginally from the previous year. Pfizer forecasts sales will fall 5% by 2012. That makes it tough for boards to meet investor expectations of increased share buybacks and higher dividends, even in a cash-rich sector in which annual dividend growth traditionally has exceeded the wider market.

Many firms are responding by cutting costs. Pfizer announced Tuesday that it will cut its research-and-development budget by up to 24%, or $1.5 billion to $2 billion, and be more selective in the areas it targets. Roche Holding expects to make $2.5 billion in cost savings from 2012, boosting earnings per share by up to 10%, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Sanofi-Aventis is responding to weaknesses in its pipeline through its attempted acquisition of Genzyme. A deal appears imminent that would value the U.S. firm at about $20 billion, a 45% premium to its prebid share price. That is a much more traditional, albeit expensive, bet on the ability to deliver new blockbuster treatments.

GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca are going down the opposite route, disposing of noncore businesses. Glaxo is selling its Quest Diagnostics stake for $1.7 billion, while AstraZeneca is expected to raise a similar amount from the sale of its AstraTech division. Both companies are likely to use the cash to fund buybacks. For AstraZeneca, targeted net purchases of up to $4 billion by 2011 could deliver a 10% boost to earnings.

To add to the confusion, companies such as Glaxo and Johnson & Johnson are diversifying into areas such as vaccines and consumer health, an apparently sensible attempt to reduce reliance on pharmaceuticals, given just 21 new drugs were approved in the U.S. last year, the lowest number since 2007. But others, such as AstraZeneca, are increasing their focus on higher margin prescription drugs, betting on their pipelines to deliver.

For investors, it is hard to choose between these different strategies. Stock-market performance will be determined largely by the performance of the pipeline, given the impact of a single new blockbuster treatment. That suggests while the biggest returns may come from lowly rated Pfizer or AstraZeneca, the surest returns should come from highly rated Bristol-Myers Squibb, whose pipeline offers more short-term promise.

Auto-Sector Demand Boosts Infineon

FEBRUARY 1, 2011 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


By ARCHIBALD PREUSCHAT
DUESSELDORF, Germany—Infineon Technologies AG on Tuesday raised its forecast after net-profit jumped, driven by strong demand from the automotive and industrials sector.
The Neubiberg, Germany-based semiconductor maker now expects full-year revenue growth in a mid-teens percentage range, compared to 10% guided previously. In fiscal 2010, the company posted sales of €3.3 billion.

In the three months ended Dec. 31 net profit surged to €232 million ($317.6 million) from €65 million a year earlier. Revenue for the period rose 34% to €922 million from €687 million, while operating profit was €177 million, up from €70 million a year earlier. The improved figures reflect the recovery in the semiconductor sector after the slump in demand in 2009 as a result of the economic downturn.

The raised sales forecast is fueled by stronger demand from its automotive and industrials and multimarkets segments, which will likely see faster sales growth than the overall group. Infineon also expects profitability to increase despite higher investment in response to continued high levels of order intake.

The company now expects its full-year operating margin in a high teens percentage range, compared to a mid to high teens percentage guided previously. In 2010 Infineon posted an operating profit margin of 14%. Investment for fiscal 2011 is now expected to be €700 million, compared to the previous forecast of €550 million and €325 million in 2010. Infineon also said second-quarter sales will be up slightly from the first quarter.

"The current outlook isn't overly aggressive," Chief Executive Peter Bauersaid in a conference call. Infineon raised guidance four times in fiscal 2010.

Expanding capacity could also improve margins at some operations, Mr. Bauer added. Infineon plans to expand capacity by 5% in the second quarter and by 3% to 5% in the following quarters. Mr. Bauer still sees tight supply for logic chips in the automotive sector for some months.
"Targeting less volatile, high-margin markets, driven by the worldwide trends towards more energy efficiency, mobility, and security is the right strategy for Infineon," Mr. Bauer said.
In August Infineon said it was selling its wireless operation to chip giant Intel Corp. in a $1.4 billion all cash deal. The deal closed earlier this week. Infineon now focuses on logic chips used in cars, machines and security solutions, as well as those used in passports.
Write to Archibald Preuschat at archibald.preuschat@dowjones.com

台達電併購 瞄準綠能

2011.02.02   【經濟日報╱記者詹惠珠／台北報導】



台達電（2308）為讓現金作更有效運用，成立100%轉投資的台達資本公司，進行財務投資和併購行動，並辦理現金增資10億元以壯大資本，不排出尋找適合標的併購，旗下金雞母旺能（3599）6月底前轉上市，挹注台達電業外收益。
台達電的現金水位過高，一直是市場法人注意的焦點。集團現金最高一度超過500億元，即使在金融海嘯時都有450億元的水準。為讓現金更靈活運用，賦予台達資本公司更有挑戰的任務，進行財務和策略的投資，並在去年10月現增10億元，壯大其資本結構，今年會有更積極的併購行動。
台達電主管表示，台達電過去在投資這個領域比較保守，主要專注在本業的電源供應器，隨著本業跨入綠能相關產業，必須進行上、中、下游的垂直整合，台達電改變過去的作風，台達資本積極尋找產業相關的績優公司，以策略投資為前題，如果無法策略聯盟，可在財務投資上獲利。
台達電跨入太陽能產業的最大投資，就是轉投資旗下的旺能，除了與工研院為創始的股東外，去年太陽能景氣低迷之際，台達電更以每股40元的私募形式，投資旺能逾30億元，目前台達電持有旺能59.05%，是旺能的第一大股東。
旺能目前在台灣新竹與大陸吳江都有設廠，去年底台灣廠產能140MW（百萬瓦），吳江廠250MW，全年產出280MW，上個月旺能竹南廠舉行上樑典禮，預計投入92.6億元，興建可容納10億瓦（1GW）級廠房，旺能目前已向主管機關提出上市申請，預計最快今年上半年可以掛牌，旺能上周五封關興櫃參考價收75元，堪稱台達電轉投資收益最大的豐收。
台達電在LED投資也有不錯的成績，2008年在LED照明廠艾笛森大股東宏齊、久元等放棄現金增資認購下，台達電以每股90元參與艾笛森的現金增資，目前台達電持有艾笛森2814張，持股3.17%，由於參與除權息，艾笛森上周五以160.5元收盤，雖然目前為止雙方在LED照明尚未有明顯的合作，但台達電在艾笛森的轉投資上獲利已倍增。
台達電主管表示，無論是在順達、佰鴻、或去年底前投資的凡甲，台達電都以在本業上有合作機會的績優公司為投資的前題，未來即使在業務上無法進一步合作，也有機會賺取財務投資，為股東創造最大的價值。