日系大厂合并LCD业务，苹果终于摆脱三星？

日本三大领先LCD厂商索尼、东芝和日立，日前宣布合并各自公司的LCD面板业务。同时日本政府将为此资助26亿美元，合并业务将于明年春季完成。

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公开数据显示，在2010年，索尼、东芝和日立三家公司一共占据了全球中小尺寸面板市场21.5%的份额，夏普占据了14.8%的份额，三星电子占据了11.9%的份额。这也就意味着，此次合并之后成立的新公司将超越夏普和三星，成为全球最大的小型液晶面板制造商。 如此一来，苹果在针对三星的专利诉讼上可能得三思一下。 尴尬的苹果 这桩合并也让在消费电子市场呼风唤雨的苹果陷入一个尴尬的处境。目前苹果产品的大多数LCD均来自三星、LG和夏普。有传言称苹果正计划给夏普投资10亿美元，以确保iPad 3推出时面板的供应能够稳定(两家公司对此都不予置评)。但夏普能否提供如此大量的合格面板还是个问题。 苹果和三星目前深陷专利纠纷之中，而后者是目前最大的LCD供应商。万幸的是，目前为止这些诉讼还没影响两家公司的面板供给关系，而双方的专利战的程度仍然不断升级。 如果夏普确实有良率问题，而苹果又和三星渐行渐远，会导致什么情况呢？我得说情况非常尴尬。iPad最大价值体现之一就是触摸屏，这是它的主要用户界面并占据设备正面的大部分面积。如果屏幕供应不足或质量下降，苹果可能会损失一些忠实用户。而现在正有一大票平板电脑的竞争对手在等着超越苹果呢。 毫无疑问，立即会有厂商赶上，填补三星或夏普造成的空缺，但选择不多。LG可以划分更多产能给苹果，但会伤害它与其它客户的关系。另一家大型LCD供应商友达光电（AU Optronics）正受到操纵价格的指控。最理想的状况是：夏普解决了良率问题。 几周前，苹果看起来似乎坚不可摧。但是随着该公司神话级的CEO的乔布斯退居二线，以及这条主要供应链成为定时炸 弹，苹果现在危机重重。 今年以来，苹果有意在新一代iPad、甚至是未来电视产品上应用AMOLED面板的传闻不断，除了跟三星洽谈AMOLED面板供货之外，苹果也一直和LG、以及多家日本厂商洽谈合作的可能性。如今三星是AMOLED的领导厂商，供货与否全看三星的脸色，因此在缺货时三星往往优先供应自家集团所需。苹果如果扩大与日本厂商合作，可望分散供货，降低对三星的依赖，否则就得考虑修复与三星的关系了。 本文下一页：合并后会出现什么问题呢？ 本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载 {pagination} 合并后会出现什么问题呢？ 这次LCD实体合并其实面临着许多困难。路透社列举了其中的一些： 政府提供的注资中有90%是2009年为鼓励日本工业创新而准备的。该项目迄今为止最大一笔投资如果被用来扶持这样一个易变的产业，可能会遭致批评。 这三家公司采用两种不同的显示技术，它们如何合并运作目前尚不清楚。此次声明没有提供如何解决业务重叠的细节。 优势方面，从技术来看，索尼、东芝和日立三家公司各有擅长，日立拥有当红的IPS广视角和MENS等技术，东芝是低温多晶硅面板龙头，而索尼在被称为下一代显示技术，市场前景被普遍看好的AMOLED面板领域累积有很多技术和专利。彼此客户、产品线互不重迭，合并效益大。只是目前还不知道这三家公司会怎样处理各自不同的几种显示技术。

DisplaySearch 2010年各中小型TFT液晶面板厂商份额Juvesmc

编译: Luffy Liu 本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文：What Does LCD Merger Mean for Apple? by Barbara Jorgensen {pagination} What Does LCD Merger Mean for Apple? Barbara Jorgensen, EBN Community Editor TweetinShare1With three of Japan's leading LCD makers set to merge into the world's largest display entity, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) may want to think twice about further antagonizing South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC) with patent-related lawsuits. Reuters reported that Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp., and Hitachi Ltd. are set to merge their liquid-crystal display operations using $2.6 billion from a Japanese government-backed fund. The merged entity will be the world's largest maker of the LCD panels used in smartphones and tablet computers, and it will have its sights set on leapfrogging the current market leaders, Sharp Corp. and Samsung Electronics. The merger also puts Apple, a consumer electronics superstar, in an awkward position. It currently sources the majority of its LCDs from Samsung, LG, and Sharp. It has been rumored that Apple plans to invest $1 billion in Sharp to secure a steady stream of displays as it rolls out the iPad3. (Neither Apple nor Sharp has ever confirmed the pact.) However, there have been some questions about Sharp's ability to provide stable quantities of quality panels. Apple is embroiled in a patent dispute with Samsung, currently the world's largest supplier of LCDs. So far, the suits have not damaged the display-sourcing relationship between the two companies, but the dispute is getting uglier. (See: This Apple Win Should Not Stand.) If Sharp does indeed have yield problems and Apple alienates Samsung, where does that leave Apple? In a pretty awkward position, I'd say. One of the most valued features of the iPad is the touch screen, which is the primary user interface and accounts for most of the device's physical footprint. If either the supply or the quality of screens begins to falter, Apple could lose some of its fan base. And there is no shortage of contenders waiting in the wings for their tablet offering to take off. There's no question someone will step in to fill any gaps left by Samsung or Sharp, but the list is short. LG could divert more capacity to Apple, but that could damage other sourcing relationships. Another major LCD contender, AU Optronics, is facing charges of price-fixing. Sharp may have to solve its yield problems fast. Only a few weeks ago, Apple seemed invincible. Now Steve Jobs, its longtime CEO, is stepping down, and one of its major supply lines is in jeopardy. There are still many hurdles facing the merged LCD entities. Some of them, according to Reuters: The 90-percent government-owned [investment] fund, set up in 2009 to promote innovation in Japanese industry, could come under fire for using public money to prop up a volatile business in its biggest investment to date... How the three firms, which use two different types of display technology, will merge operations is unclear. The announcement did not include details of how they intended to deal with business overlaps either. Still, the three firms together controlled 21.5 percent of the market for small and medium-sized displays last year, the research firm DisplaySearch estimates. Sharp controlled 14.8 percent, and Samsung Mobile controlled 11.9 percent. Apple may have to do some fence-mending.