Cheng Uei seeks cooperation with Qualcomm

Cheng Uei will manufacture Qualcomm's Mirasol screens at a new factory in Longtan, Taiwan, for what Chairman and President Gou Tai-chiang hopes will be several years, he said at a briefing at the plant yesterday. Production started in March and shipments are to begin by September, he said.

Qualcomm, which designs chips used in Nokia Inc. and HTC Corp. phones, said its technology is similar to what gives butterfly wings their colors. The venture will take on Prime View International Co.'s E Ink unit, the supplier of displays for Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle electronic book reader, in the market for screens that seek to replicate the look of paper.

“We believe this can be a significant revenue generator,” Qualcomm Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Paul Jacobs said yesterday at the new factory. Jacobs and Gou declined to say how much revenue or what contribution to their company's sales they expect from the Mirasol factory.

Jacobs estimated the potential overall market for similar displays at about US$11 billion in sales annually. Cheng Uei shares fell 4.3 percent yesterday to close at NT$48.35 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, while the benchmark TAIEX index dropped 3.5 percent. The stock has added 34 percent this year compared with a 36 advance in the TAIEX. Qualcomm has gained 29 percent to US$46.05 on the Nasdaq Stock Market this year.

South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. and Taiwan's Inventec Corp. will both use Mirasol in some mobile-phone models, according to Qualcomm press releases.

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