SELECT DEVICES:AUO would focus on high-resolution displays used in premium products, such as smart watches and virtual reality sets, the company’s chairman said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 29, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) yesterday posted the first quarterly loss in 10 quarters, primarily due to a massive asset impairment loss from its solar business and price declines driven by oversupply.

In the quarter ending Dec. 31 last year, the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel maker swung into a loss of NT$8.24 billion (US$244.2 million), compared with a net profit of NT$3.38 billion in the previous quarter. The company booked NT$6.7 billion in asset impairment loss from M. Setek Co, which makes solar wafers and modules in Japan.

The panelmaker drifted into an operating loss of NT$1.17 billion last quarter, from an operating income of NT$3.39 billion in the previous quarter. Average selling prices tumbled about 13 percent sequentially last quarter to US$385 per square meter.      [FULL  STORY]