Taipei / Tainan, Taiwan, March 6, 2006 -- Delta Electronics, Inc. (Delta Electronics) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) today announced the signing of a joint venture agreement. The new joint venture is to be named "Delta-CMO Optoelectronics Company" and it will specialize in the design, production, and sales of LCD backlight products based on world-leading Flat Fluorescent Lamp (FFL) mercury-free flat panel technology.
The joint venture agreement was signed by leading power supply and IT components company, Delta Electronics, its subsidiary, Delta-Optoelectronics (Delta-Opto), and top display panel and LCD TV producer, CMO, and its subsidiary Yuan Chi Investment Ltd. The new Delta-CMO Optoelectronics Company has registered capital of NTD 2 billion, in which Delta Electronics and Yuan Chi each holds a 40% share. The remaining 20% will be allocated to Delta-Opto technical shares and joint venture employee shares.
Mr. Bruce Cheng, chairman of Delta Electronics, said, "CMO possesses outstanding technology and mass production capabilities in TFT-LCD panels and systems. The new joint venture will apply innovative, certified mercury-free backlight technology developed over recent years by Delta-Opto for LCD TVs. This advanced technology meets the future environmental requirements of all major markets for mercury-free products." Mr. Cheng added, "This will be the first time that Delta-Opto has released this advanced technology and cooperated with the leading TFT-LCD company, CMO. The joint venture will accelerate time-to-market for TFT-LCD TVs with flat panels based on mercury-free backlights and establish a new paradigm for environmentally- friendly and energy-saving display technology."
Mr. Jau-Yang Ho, president of CMO, said, "Delta Electronics' operational and research excellence is renowned in the industry. CMO is investing aggressively in gathering together the most advanced technology and we are delighted to cooperate with Delta's excellent R&D team, to jointly commit ourselves to the development of this new technology. We believe Delta-CMO Optoelectronics will create substantial synergies by combining teams from CMO and Delta, and this will accelerate the development of next generation backlight technology for LCD displays."
Mr. Yenshan Chuang, board member and senior consultant of Delta Electronics, is to be appointed as the chairman of the joint venture company. R&D, manufacturing, and management teams from Delta Electronics and Delta-Opto will also be involved and manufacturing equipment will be designed and made by Delta's experienced automation department. To facilitate technology cooperation and logistics, the joint venture plans to locate in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park for its production and operations base.
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About Flat Fluorescent Lamp (FFL)
A new lighting technology that uses a flat design for LCD display backlight applications, FFL is cost-competitive and environmentally-friendly. FFL adopts Xenon (Xe) as its optoelectronic inverting material, which meets current and future mercury-free requirements of markets around the world, and provides a much needed advance over the mercury-based technology of fluorescent lamps. In addition to its flat profile and benefits to the environment, FFL technology has a number of advantages for large scale LCD displays, including enhanced color saturation, contrast, and image quality.
About Delta Group
Delta Group is the world's number one provider of switching power supplies and a major source for power management solutions, components, visual displays, industrial automation, networking products, and renewable energy solutions. Established in 1971, Delta Group has sales offices worldwide and manufacturing plants in Taiwan, Thailand, China, Japan, Mexico and Europe. As a global leader in power electronics, Delta is committed to protecting the environment and energy efficiency, and has implemented lead-free production and recycling and waste management programs for many years. Delta's mission continues to be: "To provide innovative energy-saving products for a better quality of life." More information about Delta Group can be found at www.deltaww.com; for details about Corporate Social Responsibility, please visit http://www.delta.com.tw/environment/csr_main.asp
About Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO)
Chi Mei Optoelectronics (TAIEX:3009), headquartered at Tainan Science-based Industrial Park, Taiwan is the world's leading TFT-LCD company. Its key products are large-size TFT-LCDs for notebook, desktop, monitor, and TV applications. CMO now operates 4 plants, including one 3.5G fab, one 4G fab, one 5G fab, and one 5.5G fab. CMO currently has 15,000 employees. For further information, please visit the company's website at http://www.cmo.com.tw
About Delta-Optoelectronics
Delta Optoelectronics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Delta Electronics, Inc. and is located in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park. The company is engaged in the research and manufacturing of Polymer Light Emission Displays (PLED) and mercury-free Flat Fluorescent Lamps (FFL) and offers a range of products based on these technologies.