The Display Industry News Source 12.6.11

Bionic Contacts Lenses Project Images and Text Right Before Your Eyes (Video Above) - via TechnologyReview.com

CHI CEO Steps Down, Rumors of AUO-CHI Merger Swirling Around - "Chimei Innolux chairman Liao Ching-siang has stepped down from his role at the Taiwanese panel company amidst growing speculation that a merger with AUO is on the cards. Ching-siang has stepped down, he says, because of health problems. He has also quit his role as director on the board.  But there is speculation that there may be more to the decision than Chimei is admitting. Cash-strapped CMI has been attempting to drum up some funding. Digitimes' sources reckon it's after $1.97 billion.  However, CMI also has other substantial loans, and a lack of support from Foxconn Group - which owns 11 percent of CMI - is hampering attempts to get a loan together. CMI has, like others in the panel industry, turned in poorer than expected financial results recently.  This has led to calls for CMI to team up with domestic rival AU Optronics to survive any lurches into the red." via TechEye.net

Chinese Government to Raise Import Tariffs Close to 5% on Semi-Finished LCD's Next Month - "The latest forecast from -DisplaySearch now indicates that Beijing will probably hike import duties on LCD cells used by LCD panel makers in the products they export from the current 3 percent duty to 5 percent, while leaving duties on finished LCD modules unchanged at 5 percent. The 5 percent duty “might not be big enough to drive Taiwanese and [South] Korean panel makers to build factories in China. -According to our cost analysis,” Display-Search vice president David Hsieh said on the company’s blog on Thursday. The less-than-expected tax hikes come amid strong opposition from Chinese TV makers to any drastic increase in import duties because the tax hikes would curb imports from their major panel suppliers — Taiwanese and South Korean LCD panel makers, Hsieh said." via Taipei Times

Samsung Begins Mass Production of 40" Optical  Sensing LCD Panels - "The LCD panel is built-in with infrared sensors that identify the object’s reflected images. The Optical Sensor in the Pixel LCD panel, employing new image sensing technology, is capable of identifying greater than 50 touch points at a time and displaying images with a broad-angle viewing and full HD resolution. These LCD panels can be deployed in a wide range of input applications and also in wall-mounted and table top applications. The panel surface is provided with a tempered glass, which is capable of withstanding about 80 kg of external loads." via AZOsensors.com

AUO Back to No. 2 Spot for LCD TV Panels - "The Chinese market played a key role in supporting Taiwanese panel makers’ growth during the downturn in 2008-2009, when the TV market in the US and European markets slowed. This year, local panel makers lost this support as TV growth in China turned stagnant as well. However, starting this month, China’s six major TV brands are expected to increase orders by more than 28 percent to 4.3 million units to build inventory for the Lunar New Year holiday shopping season, after cutting orders by 19 percent last month amid inventory digestion, WitsView, an LCD research team from Taipei-based TrendForce Corp, said in its latest report. This new momentum is expected to “help to stabilize [panel] prices in the fourth quarter. And we also see some rush orders coming in,” WitsView analyst Burrell Liu said in the report." via Taipei Times