AUO to establish flat screen plant in Vietnam

AU Optronics (AUO), one of the world-leading display suppliers, will set up its first Vietnam plant to make LCD monitors, expecting to start volume production in the first quarter of 2024.

At an investor conference held by the Taiwanese heavyweight in Taipei Wednesday, AUO president Frank Ko said AUO has been keen to expand globally to meet demand from clients, adding that his company would build a new plant in Vietnam later this year, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Ko said the Vietnam plant is scheduled to start commercial production in the first quarter of next year, according to CNA, the island’s largest information supplier. However, he did not disclose the investment capital, plant location, or designed capacity, just saying the facility would focus on supplies of monitors used to produce information technology devices expected to be shipped to U.S. and European markets.

Ko told the investor conference that TV prices are expected to stage a rebound in the second quarter of this year, while the prices of screens used in information electronics items are expected to make a comeback in the second half.

Vietnam is cementing its status as a new global manufacturing hub, where many international electronics producers have already set up their presence and carried out manufacturing expansion. In January, Senao Networks, a Taiwanese maker of data networking and telephony products, said it wants to invest $30 million to build a plant in Vietnam in its supply chain diversification strategy. The Senao plan coincides with a wave in which Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers continue to allocate production outside of China with

As part of the wave, Taiwan-based contract computer maker Wistron is accelerating the giant’s buildup in Vietnam. The Apple supplier has invested about $300 million into Vietnam and is operating only one facility in Ha Nam province, about 50 kilometers south of Hanoi. BYD, dubbed China’s Tesla, is planning to build a car parts plant with at least $250 million also in northern Vietnam.

Vietnam started 2023 with decent new FDI inflows of some $1.2 billion. Despite the near-term global electronics down-cycle, tech companies continue to invest in Vietnam. The latest developments also include a move by Chinese display maker BOE, a supplier of both Apple and Samsung, which plans to invest an expected $400 million to build two factories in the country.

Meanwhile, European business sentiment showed similar optimism, as indicated in the latest quarterly survey from the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.