AUO has been taking steps to diversify its business and reduce its dependency on the volatile display industry by selling two of its manufacturing facilities in Taiwan. The company announced the sale of its idled factory in Tainan, along with land, to Micron for NT$7.4 billion ($231.8 million). This facility, which previously produced color filters for monitors, notebook computers, and TVs, had been shut down last year as part of AUO’s strategy to optimize asset use. The sale is expected to generate NT$4.17 billion ($131 million) in disposal gains for AUO. In addition to the Tainan factory, AUO has agreed to sell facilities owned by its solar energy subsidiary, AUO Crystal Corp, located in Taichung. The sale of these facilities is valued at NT$700 million ($22 million) and is projected to bring about NT$544 million ($17 million) in disposal gains.
These sales align with AUO’s broader strategic shift away from reliance on the flat-panel display sector. The company has been in the red for over two years and reported net losses of NT$3.76 billion ($118 million) in the first half of the current year. In the second quarter of this year, AUO reported revenues of NT$74.33 billion ($2.34 billion) and an operating net profit of NT$110 million ($3.46 million).
By selling these assets, AUO aims to improve its financial structure and focus on its long-term goal of reducing the impact of the LCD industry’s boom-and-bust cycles. The company’s chairman, Paul Peng, has highlighted that AUO is moving towards a “light-asset, low-energy-consumption” manufacturing model, with a focus on smart mobility, vertical field solutions, and MicroLED technology. This transformation is intended to increase the contribution of non-panel businesses to half of AUO’s total revenue by 2027.
Micron Technology plans to convert AUO’s Tainan factory into a front-end wafer testing facility to support its DRAM chip manufacturing expansions in Taichung and Taoyuan, further cementing Taiwan’s position as a key player in the global semiconductor industry.
