Samsung raises procurement of Taiwan-made electronic products
Samsung of South Korea plans to procure US$7.5 billion in Taiwan-made electronic products this year, which is expected to benefit domestic manufacturers of touch panels, light emitting diodes and electronic components.
Since the beginning of this year, Samsung has seen booming sales of touch-panel cellphones and LED TVs worldwide. And LED-related firms as Epistar, Forepi, Unity and I-Chiun will gain the most from Samsung's increased procurement.
JTOUCH is one of Samsung's most important development partners worldwide. The company will increase production capacities of capacitor-type and flat-panel resistors in the third quarter of this year to meet Samsung's demand.
Samsung edged out Sony as the world's largest supplier of LED TVs in the second quarter of this year, as well as being the world's largest brand for LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs and LCD monitors, predicting it would ship over 20 million LCD TVs and 20 million LCD monitors this year.
Last year, Samsung procured US$7 billion of Taiwan-made products, mostly flat panels, memories and electronic components. This year, the company will add LED and components, and touch panel to its buy-Taiwan list.
More than 300 domestic firms have become Samsung's long-term strategic partners, including ones supplying electronic components, printed circuit boards, passive electronics, connectors, power supplies and integrated-circuit devices.