Hitachi Will Ally With Hon Hai in Tapping iPad Business

Taipei, June 14, 2011 (CENS)--Hitachi plans to invest in the fifth-generation display factory of Century Display in Shenzhen, a partner of Hon Hai Group, for supplying panels to Hon Hai for iPad assembly, in a joint effort to confront Korean rivals and tap the huge business potential of iPad manufacturing service.

Insiders noted that Hitachi display engineers have stationed at the plants of Century Display and will transfer IPS (in-plane switching) wide-angle viewing technology to the latter, which will help Hon Hai to gain iPad 3 orders. The development will greatly boost the margin of Hon Hai, which is now filling the orders for the assembly of iPad and iPhone. The inventor of IPS technology, Hitachi will help Century Display greatly enhance its yield rate for panel manufacturing, thereby solving the problem of insufficient supply for iPad 2 panels for Hon Hai. Moreover, Hitachi will help Century Display produce iPad 3 panel, which involves very difficult technology due to the use of ultra-thin glass.

Following the technology transfer, Hitachi will buy into Century Display and dominate its management in the future.

Output of Century Display is now shipped to Hon Hai's plants nearby in Shenzhen, leading to considerable savings in transportation cost.