There has been some speculation about a LCD manufacturing joint-venture from the three Japanese electronics giants for some time and the three companies have now confirmed the rumors. The joint-venture hopes to compete with Korean screen makers such as Samsung and LG.

Sony, Toshiba & Hitachi to form LCD joint-venture
The South Korean TV and display panel makers such as Samsung and LG have taken over as the dominant forces in LCD panel production. The Japanese TV makers seem displeased with that – obviously.


Sony, Toshiba & Hitachi plan to create Japan Display: the world’s largest small/medium size LCD manufacturer

The three Japanese TV makers therefore plan to form a strong Japanese display alliance to manufacture small and medium-sized LCD panels for handled devices such as smartphones and tablets. All three manufacturers have LCD production plants today that will now be combined.

But that is not all. The Japanese government’s investment fund will invest 200 billion yen ($2.6 billion USD) in the joint-venture, taking a 70 % stake, and each of the three a 10 % stake. The new company will be called Japan Display. The merger is expected to be completed by spring 2012.

Japan Display aims to be the world’s largest small/medium display maker of LCD panels with a revenue projection of 750 billion yen by 2016.

The new company will also focus on R&D in areas such as OLED and high resolution displays.

- Source: Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi