[December 26, 2011] Sony Agrees to End LCD Panel JV with Samsung [Jiji Press English News Service] Tweet (Jiji Press English News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Sony Corp. said Monday it has agreed with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. to dissolve their joint venture for liquid crystal display panels. Sony will sell all of its shares in the joint venture, S-LCD Corp., to Samsung for some 1.08 trillion won, or about 73.3 billion yen, by the end of January. In order to turn around its unprofitable television operations, Sony plans to increase its procurement of cheaper LCD panels from suppliers. At present Samsung holds 50 pct plus one share in S-LCD, established in South Korea in 2004. The rest is held by Sony. S-LCD makes large-size LCD panels for flat-panel televisions, supplying them mainly to the two companies. Although the joint venture initially contributed to stable LCD supplies for Sony and Samsung, it has had to face plunging LCD panel prices due to excess supply amid heated completion with Chinese and Taiwanese makers. Sony will book an appraisal loss of some 66 billion yen related to the share sale for the business year to March 2012. In the year to March 2012, Sony's TV operations are expected to suffer red ink for the eighth straight year. By boosting cost- cutting efforts, the company intends to recover profitability in the business year to March 2014. Despite dissolving the JV, Sony and Samsung Electronics have concluded a contract to continue technical development cooperation on LCD panels.END (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]