日本三大領先LCD廠商索尼、東芝和日立，日前宣布合并各自公司的LCD面板業(yè)務。同時日本政府將為此資助26億美元，合并業(yè)務將于明年春季完成。

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公開數(shù)據(jù)顯示，在2010年，索尼、東芝和日立三家公司一共占據(jù)了全球中小尺寸面板市場21.5%的份額，夏普占據(jù)了14.8%的份額，三星電子占據(jù)了11.9%的份額。這也就意味著，此次合并之后成立的新公司將超越夏普和三星，成為全球最大的小型液晶面板制造商。 如此一來，蘋果在針對三星的專利訴訟上可能得三思一下。 尷尬的蘋果 這樁合并也讓在消費電子市場呼風喚雨的蘋果陷入一個尷尬的處境。目前蘋果產(chǎn)品的大多數(shù)LCD均來自三星、LG和夏普。有傳言稱蘋果正計劃給夏普投資10億美元，以確保iPad 3推出時面板的供應能夠穩(wěn)定(兩家公司對此都不予置評)。但夏普能否提供如此大量的合格面板還是個問題。 蘋果和三星目前深陷專利糾紛之中，而后者是目前最大的LCD供應商。萬幸的是，目前為止這些訴訟還沒影響兩家公司的面板供給關系，而雙方的專利戰(zhàn)的程度仍然不斷升級。 如果夏普確實有良率問題，而蘋果又和三星漸行漸遠，會導致什么情況呢？我得說情況非常尷尬。iPad最大價值體現(xiàn)之一就是觸摸屏，這是它的主要用戶界面并占據(jù)設備正面的大部分面積。如果屏幕供應不足或質量下降，蘋果可能會損失一些忠實用戶。而現(xiàn)在正有一大票平板電腦的競爭對手在等著超越蘋果呢。 毫無疑問，立即會有廠商趕上，填補三星或夏普造成的空缺，但選擇不多。LG可以劃分更多產(chǎn)能給蘋果，但會傷害它與其它客戶的關系。另一家大型LCD供應商友達光電（AU Optronics）正受到操縱價格的指控。最理想的狀況是：夏普解決了良率問題。 幾周前，蘋果看起來似乎堅不可摧。但是隨著該公司神話級的CEO的喬布斯退居二線，以及這條主要供應鏈成為定時炸 彈，蘋果現(xiàn)在危機重重。 今年以來，蘋果有意在新一代iPad、甚至是未來電視產(chǎn)品上應用AMOLED面板的傳聞不斷，除了跟三星洽談AMOLED面板供貨之外，蘋果也一直和LG、以及多家日本廠商洽談合作的可能性。如今三星是AMOLED的領導廠商，供貨與否全看三星的臉色，因此在缺貨時三星往往優(yōu)先供應自家集團所需。蘋果如果擴大與日本廠商合作，可望分散供貨，降低對三星的依賴，否則就得考慮修復與三星的關系了。 本文下一頁：合并后會出現(xiàn)什么問題呢？ 本文授權編譯自EBN Online，版權所有，謝絕轉載 {pagination} 合并后會出現(xiàn)什么問題呢？ 這次LCD實體合并其實面臨著許多困難。路透社列舉了其中的一些： 政府提供的注資中有90%是2009年為鼓勵日本工業(yè)創(chuàng)新而準備的。該項目迄今為止最大一筆投資如果被用來扶持這樣一個易變的產(chǎn)業(yè)，可能會遭致批評。 這三家公司采用兩種不同的顯示技術，它們?nèi)绾魏喜⑦\作目前尚不清楚。此次聲明沒有提供如何解決業(yè)務重疊的細節(jié)。 優(yōu)勢方面，從技術來看，索尼、東芝和日立三家公司各有擅長，日立擁有當紅的IPS廣視角和MENS等技術，東芝是低溫多晶硅面板龍頭，而索尼在被稱為下一代顯示技術，市場前景被普遍看好的AMOLED面板領域累積有很多技術和專利。彼此客戶、產(chǎn)品線互不重迭，合并效益大。只是目前還不知道這三家公司會怎樣處理各自不同的幾種顯示技術。

DisplaySearch 2010年各中小型TFT液晶面板廠商份額acdesmc

編譯: Luffy Liu 本文授權編譯自EBN Online，版權所有，謝絕轉載 參考英文原文：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.