Samsung Electronics on Monday announced that its display panel spin-off is now operational. The company said in February that it would separate its struggling LCD business from the rest of the company and form Samsung Display Co., Ltd. The subsidiary opened its doors Monday morning and it will commence operations with roughly $6.6 billion in financing from parent company, Samsung Electronics. ”We will make Samsung Display a well-respected company through continuous efforts to supply a wide variety of customized products that provide great value to our customers,” newly named Samsung Display CEO Donggun Park said. ”By continually staying one step ahead of our competitors, we can make our company the very best in the display market.” Samsung’s full press release follows below.

The World’s Largest Display Manufacturer, Samsung Display is Launched

SEOUL, Korea – April 2, 2012 – Samsung Display Co., Ltd, a global leader in display panel technologies and products, announced today that it has been officially launched as a new corporation, spun off from Samsung Electronics. Samsung Display held its inauguration ceremony today and will begin business operations in earnest after carrying out incorporation registration on April 3.

Donggun Park, executive vice president and head of the former Samsung Electronics’ LCD Business was elected CEO of Samsung Display. The company, which recorded 22.7 trillion KRW (approximately 20 billion U.S. dollars) in annual revenue in 2011 as Samsung Electronics’ LCD Business, became the world’s largest display manufacturer overnight, based on its 20,000 employees and five production facilities worldwide.

Park said at the inauguration ceremony, “We will make Samsung Display a well-respected company through continuous efforts to supply a wide variety of customized products that provide great value to our customers.” He added, “By continually staying one step ahead of our competitors, we can make our company the very best in the display market.”

More than 350 employees attended the inauguration ceremony. At the inauguration, many reflected on the success of Samsung Electronics’ LCD Business over the past 21 years and expressed a widespread determination to once again become ‘The No. 1 Global Display Manufacturer’.

Samsung Display began as an R&D arm of Samsung Electronics in 1991 and has developed and released some of the world’s most creative and innovative displays for two decades. Now, as a separate corporation, it will respond to rapidly changing market conditions more efficiently, while providing timely, well-differentiated products and services this year and well into the future.

Samsung on Monday announced that it will spin off its LCD display panel manufacturing business. Tentatively named Samsung Display Co., Ltd., the new company will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics and it will launch with approximately $6.6 billion in initial capital when it officially breaks off from Samsung-proper on April 1st, 2012. ”This split LCD business is the speed of your business can be secured to the diverse needs of Customers.Therefore were able to respond quickly,” said Donggun Park, EVP of Samsung’s LCD business, in a statement. “Business competitiveness to our customers advanced products and a step I will try to provide technology and services.”

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The next-generation iPad will feature a larger battery and a new camera, according to RepairLabs. The website obtained what it claims to be the rear shell of the upcoming iPad 3 from an industry insider in China. After examining the shell and comparing it to an iPad 2 case, RepairLabs noticed the mounts for the logic board were quite different, meaning the board itself will likely be a different shape. The rear case also apparently reveals that the iPad 3 will include a larger battery pack, in line with earlier rumors. The device is also expected to have a “different camera” as well, and the site suggests the front display will also be new. There has been speculation that the next-generation iPad would be slightly thicker, but the site claims that could be false after examining the rear case. Apple is expected to unveil the iPad 3 next month.

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Samsung, Sharp, Innolux Corp, Hitachi, HannStar Display Corp, Chungwha Picture Tubes and Epson Imaging Devices Corp will pay a total of $553 million to settle accusations that the firms participated in an LCD price-fixing scheme. The price fixing resulted in inflation of display prices at the benefit of all companies involved, but at the cost of consumers. “This price-fixing scheme manipulated the playing field for businesses that abide by the rules, and left consumers to pay artificially higher costs for televisions, computers and other electronics,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. The United States, European Union, South Korea and Japan began investigating the seven companies in December 2006, Reuters said, and executives and other firms have already paid as much as $890 million in fines. Settlement papers filed with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ask Samsung to pay $240 million, the largest fine levied against any of the firms involved. Nokia also filed a lawsuit against several, but not all, of the aforementioned firms in 2009 alleging that the companies were purposely driving up display prices for screens used in Nokia smartphones.

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Samsung will purchase Sony’s 50% share of S-LCD, a joint venture created by both companies in 2004, for $939.6 million. Both companies will continue to cooperate on the development of new LCD panel technology, however, and Sony says it hopes to “secure a flexible and steady supply” of LCD panels from Samsung moving forward. “With whole ownership of S-LCD, Samsung anticipates heightened flexibility, speed and efficiency in both panel production and business operations,” Samsung said in the statement. Samsung expects the purchase to be finalized by the end of January 2012 pending approval from regulatory authorities. The full press release follows after the break.

Sony and Samsung Shift to New LCD Panel Business Alliance
•Samsung to acquire all of Sony’s shares of S-LCD, making the joint venture its wholly-owned subsidiary
•Sony and Samsung enter into a strategic agreement for supply and purchase of LCD panels.

Tokyo, Japan - Sony Corporation (“Sony”) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (“Samsung”) today announced that the two companies have signed agreements to transition the current business relationship with respect to LCD panels.

Under the agreement, Samsung will acquire all of Sony’s shares of S-LCD Corporation (“S-LCD”), the two companies’ LCD panel manufacturing joint venture, making S-LCD a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung. In consideration for the share transfer, cash consideration of approximately KRW 1.08 trillion^* will be paid to Sony by Samsung. Concurrently, the two companies have entered into a new strategic agreement for the supply and purchase of LCD panels with a goal of enhancing the competitiveness of both companies. The agreement also allows Sony and Samsung to continue cooperative engineering efforts focused on LCD panel technology.

For Sony, this transaction will enable it to monetize its shares in S-LCD and aims to secure a flexible and steady supply of LCD panels from Samsung, based on market prices and without the responsibility and costs of operating a manufacturing facility. With whole ownership of S-LCD, Samsung anticipates heightened flexibility, speed and efficiency in both panel production and business operations.

Established in April 2004, S-LCD has continued to deliver advanced and cost-competitive LCD panels to both of its parent companies, contributing to the expansion of the respective parties’ TV businesses, and the large-sized LCD TV market overall. However, LCD panel and TV market conditions have now changed. In order to respond to such challenging conditions and to strengthen their respective market competitiveness, the two companies have agreed to shift to a new LCD panel business alliance.

The share transfer and payment are targeted to close by the end of January 2012, subject to necessary approvals from regulatory authorities.

As a result of this transaction, a non-cash impairment loss of approximately JPY 66 billion is expected to be incurred by Sony in the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, due to the reevaluation of its S-LCD shares. This loss includes an impact from the fluctuation of exchange rate. Despite this one-time loss, Sony estimates that the transaction will result in substantial savings on and after January 1, 2012 in respect of costs associated with its procurement of LCD panels. The current estimate of the yearly savings in respect of such costs is approximately JPY 50 billion, compared to LCD panel procurement costs estimated for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. Neither the one-time loss nor the estimated cost savings were included in Sony’s forecast of consolidated financial results for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, announced on November 2, 2011. Sony is currently reevaluating this forecast, taking into account this transaction and other factors that might affect its full year FY2011 consolidated financial results forecast.

Facts about S-LCD

Established

:April 26, 2004

Capital

:KRW 3.3 Trillion

(Samsung Electronics: 50% plus 1 share, Sony: 50% minus 1 share)

 

Representative

:Donggun Park, CEO

Location

:Tangjeong, Chung Cheong Nam-Do, South Korea

Production Items

:7th and 8th generation Amorphous TFT LCD

*Note: The final amount of such payment will be determined based on S-LCD’s financial statements as of the end of December 2011.

In early August, we reported that Apple started boosting its iPad 2 display panel orders with Samsung after LG’s panels failed to meet the iPad maker’s quality requirements. DigiTimes said on Friday that LG has addressed the quality issues and has now boosted its shipments back to their original levels. The South Korea-based company reportedly shipped 4 million 9.7-inch iPad 2 panels during the month of August, up from the 2.4-2.5 million it shipped in July, and it is expected to maintain its current volume through September. Taiwan Economic News said Foxconn-owner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. has boosted its projected iPad 2 shipments for the third quarter to 20 million units, although DigiTimes said Apple is expected to ship 12-15 million iPad 2 devices.

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Apple may invest $1 billion in a Sharp LCD factory to ensure adequate production of screens for its iPhone and iPad, according to MF Global FXA Securities analyst David Rubenstein. Apple typically buys its LCD displays from Samsung, LG and Chimei Innolux, although recent reports have suggested the iPhone maker has boosted its orders with Samsung after LG failed to meet iPad 2 display requirements. However, Apple’s recent legal battles with Samsung in the United States, the European Union and Australia could be why the company is looking to invest in other manufacturers. “If the situation escalates into a state of war, this could mean a huge shift in orders,” a source told Reuters, suggesting that Apple could give larger orders to Elpida Memory and Toshiba. Sharp is expected to provide the LCD displays for Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone, which is expected to launch next year.

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Apple has started to test 2048 x 1536 resolution displays from LG and Samsung, both of which have secured deals to provide the iPad maker with LCD parts, Korea Times reported on Monday. “Apple’s upcoming iPad 3 will feature an improved display to support quad extended graphics (QXGA), a display resolution of 2048×1536 pixels with a 4:3 aspect ratio to provide full high definition (HD) viewing experience,” a source told the Korean news outlet. The source refers to the tablet as the “iPad 3″ and not the “iPad HD,” or “iPad Pro” which other rumors have suggested the device will be called. Apple typically uses Samsung displays and flash storage in its devices, but a flurry of recent lawsuits have pushed Apple to pursue different component suppliers. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), for example, will provide flash memory for Apple’s next-generation iPhone and iPad products. One unnamed Samsung senior official commented on Samsung’s relationship with Apple: “We aren’t affected significantly by Apple’s changing approach,” the official told Korea Times. “Apple is first and foremost about product quality, and while it may find other manufacturers to provide customized chips for its new products, the same can’t be said about LCDs.”

[Via 9to5 Mac]

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Apple could cut Samsung from its list of part suppliers, an arrangement that is worth as much as $5 billion for Samsung, one analyst has suggested. “They have become more competitors and less partners and so I think Apple will definitely not be looking to Samsung as its go-to partner-of-choice for NAND flash,” Brian Marshall, a Gleacher & Co. analyst told The Globe and Mail. Apple could instead choose to get its NAND flash products from other companies, such as Hynix Semiconductor, Micron, and Toshiba. Similarly, if Apple were to bail on Samsung as a parts provider, the iPhone maker could look to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) or Intel for processors, but it would also need to find another provider for LCDs. Samsung and Apple have been locked in multiple legal battles since Apple accused Samsung of creating “copycat” devices and sought to block the import of its products in the United States.

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According to a new report from DigiTimes, Amazon is expected to ship a “conservative” 1-1.2 million of its new tablets during the third quarter — a time frame that’s in line with earlier reports that the online retailer would get its unannounced tablet out the door by August. Reportedly, orders from Amazon are the most positive of all tablet-builders so far, and the company is expected to demand as many as 2 million touch panel displays in August and September. While very little is known about Amazon’s tablet — or possibly tablets — we have heard that it is prepping an entry level model codenamed “Coyote,” with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip, as well as a second more powerful “Hollywood” model that’s powered by NVIDIA’s new quad-core T30 “Kal-El” processor, which offers a 500% performance increase over Tegra 2. Amazon already has a number of services that will compliment a tablet perfectly, such as Cloud Drive, Cloud Player, Amazon MP3, Unbox streaming videos, Kindle, and more — all of which will no doubt help it stir up the current tablet market.

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Samsung’s profits fell 26% during the second quarter due to poor sales in its LCD display division, according to a report the company released today. The firm’s operating profits were $3.5 billion for the quarter, down from $4.7 billion from the same period last year. According to a survey from Bloomberg that included six analysts, the Korean company’s display arm is expected to post an operating loss of 3.5 billion won ($69 million), down from an 880 billion won ($827.2 million) profit during the second quarter of 2010. Earlier this week, the head of Samsung’s combined LCD and semiconductor business, Kwon Oh-hyun, confirmed that Samsung’s component sales would suffer during the second quarter. That business could suffer more as Samsung continues to fight multiple lawsuits with its largest LCD buyer, Apple, and rumors have suggested the iPhone builder could drop Samsung as a supplier. “Only the phone business is holding up,” Kim Sung In, an analyst with Kiwoom Securities Co. told Bloomberg. “Everything else is looking bad. There’s no bright picture for the company looking ahead.”

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Last week, Samsung announced that it will combine its LCD and semiconductor businesses. The move is expected to conceal poor LCD sales, but the head of the new combined business, Kwon Oh-hyun, has said that he expects the overall performance to falter during the second half of the year. “In the past, the semiconductor market tended to be weaker in the first half and stronger in the second half, but for this year, it is likely to remain flat throughout the latter half,” Kwon said according to The Wall Street Journal. Samsung typically sees 70% of its operating profits and 44% of its revenues from the combined sales of its semiconductor and LCD products. The South Korean firm is currently locked up in multiple legal battles with Apple — the largest buyer of its LCD products — and rumor has it the Cupertino-based firm is considering dropping Samsung as a supplier.

Samsung will combine both its flat-panel display and semiconductor businesses into one unit, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Samsung’s display business wasn’t profitable during the first quarter and it’s on track for the same lackluster performance during the second quarter. Combined, however, the display and semiconductor businesses made up 70% of Samsung’s operating profits and 44% of the South Korean company’s revenue, The Wall Street Journal said. In other words, the move looks like an attempt to shroud the poor display performance inside the company’s more successful semiconductor unit. The display unit could see more trouble ahead as well, since Samsung is currently locked in a number of legal battles with Apple, the largest buyer of Samsung’s LCD products. Kwon Oh-hyun, Samsung’s semiconductor president, will oversee the new joint businesses.

There isn’t anything quite like a dual-core Android handset to brighten up your Saturday, huh? We have just spent some time with the Motorola DROID X2 for Verizon Wireless, and while the external casing hasn’t changed much, this is indeed a very new phone. For starters, like we mentioned, that super-fast 1GHz CPU that powered the original DROID X is now a screaming-fast 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor. If that wasn’t enough, the screen now features qHD resolution, bringing the LCD into modern times. The DROID X2 still features an 8-megapixel camera around back, and also runs Android 2.2 with a 2.3 upgrade coming at some point. The UI is a little bit refreshed as well, and we like the four static apps on the bottom of every screen as opposed to the overlay that used to appear, which was viciously annoying. All in all, this is one of the fastest devices available on Verizon Wireless, and while it isn’t a 4G phone, it’s certainly one of our favorites already. There’s a few more hands-on photos in the gallery!

Oh, you haven’t heard? Having a display with 326 pixels per inch (ppi) was so last year. In 2011, 367ppi reigns supreme. At this week’s SID 2011 conference, Japanese company Toshiba showcased a 4-inch LCD display with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution and an impressive pixel density of 367ppi. The screen, which will come to market sometime this year, has a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and is capable of displaying video in native 720p. Much has been made of screen pixel-density, thanks in part to Apple coining the term “Retina display” with its launch of the iPhone 4. Apple’s latest smartphone features 326 pixels per inch, making the new Toshiba offering — with 41 extra pixels for every inch — better (or at least denser). What handset will be knighted with the new, ultra-crisp screen? We’re not sure, but we can’t wait to find out.

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