Samsung's screen technology business is about to get even bigger. Sony hopes
that sloughing off its LCD manufacturing business will stem some losses with its
struggling TV biz.
Samsung is now buying up Sony's share of the
two companies' joint venture, S-LCD, for $940 million, or approximately 1.08
trillion South Korean won. The acquisition will shift Sony's 50 percent of the
company–minus one share–into Samsung's possession, making it the S-LCD
Corporation a wholly-owned Samsung subsidiary.
Sony and Samsung expect to complete the
hand-over by the end of January 2012. Sony, in the meantime, also announced it
will take a one-time charge of 66 billion yen ($845.4 million) due to a
“reevaluation” of its S-LCD shares, partly due to the exchange rate. Over time,
however, the company expects to see roughly 50 billion yen in annual savings as
a result of shedding S-LCD's manufacturing arm.
Samsung assuming control of the company, which manufactures LCD panels for
consumer electronics like televisions and mobile phones, Sony will continue to
source some of its LCD panels from S-LCD.