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Second-grade 9.7-inch IPS panels, those failing to meet requirements for use to make touch screens for iPad 2, may have been procured by China-based white-box vendors for use in their 9.7-inch tablet PCs, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

LG Display and Samsung Electronics are two main suppliers of 9.7-inch IPS panels for iPad 2, the sources indicated. Since yield rates for such panels are lower than those for other types of panels, a portion of output is below Apple's standard but may not be really defective in terms of usability.

There were an estimated 7-9 million iPad 2s shipped globally in the second quarter of 2011 and the shipment volume is expected to increase to 12-14 million units in the third quarter, the sources indicated.

LG Display and Samsung together shipped an estimated 12-15 million 9.7-inch IPS panels in the second quarter, the sources pointed out. The gap between the shipments of panels and iPad 2 is expected to consist of three portions, panels unable to meet requirements, those in iPad 2 assembler's (Taiwan-based Foxconn) inventory for increased iPad shipments in the third quarter, as well as those sold to China-based white-box vendors, the sources analyzed.

China-based white-box vendor SmartDevices has launched a 9.7-inch Android 2.2 tablet PC, T10, for sale in the China market at CNY1,900 (US$293), and other white-box vendors, such as AGSO and Wanlida, have also launch 9.7-inch Android tablet PCs, the sources said.

【管理人】一口英語メモ
Second-gradeとは、直訳すると二級品という意味になりますが、FPD業界では顧客のスペックを満たさなかったランク落ち品のことです。

Despite a recent report that an Apple executive traveled overseas to see Samsung's latest AMOLED displays for a future iPad, a new report claims that the company would not be able to produce enough 9.7-inch displays to meet capacity.

OLED-display.net on Friday made their case as to why Apple will not adopt an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display in its third-generation iPad. The site noted that Samsung is expected to concentrate on small- and medium-sized OLED panels with its latest production lines, set to begin manufacturing in the next two weeks.

Samsung's total capacity is expected to be 8 million 4-inch OLED panels per month by the end of 2011. But the display maker is also said to have delayed investments for larger screen sizes of 6 inches to 9 inches until 2012.

The report also said that Samsung is interested in producing an OLED display for its own 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, but such a device is not expected to arrive until 2012 at the earliest. And that screen size is significantly smaller than the 9.7-inch display Apple has embraced with the iPad form factor.

Also included is video footage from an interview with Barry Young, director of the OLED Association. The clip shows Young confidently saying that Apple will not ship a product with an OLED screen in 2011.

"If anything, it would have to be after 2011, maybe 2012," he said. "It's just not going to happen for Apple."

The report concludes that Samsung Mobile Display could provide millions of smaller OLED display panels, with sizes of 3 inches or 4 inches, to Apple by late 2011 or early 2012. But the company is not expected to be able to produce screen sizes of between 7 inches and 9 inches in mass quantity by that time.
The analysis comes in response to a report earlier this week from The Korea Herald, which claimed that Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook visited South Korea last week to talk with Samsung executives about utilizing an AMOLED display for its third-generation iPad. Sources reportedly told the publication that Apple could launch its next iPad before the end of 2011.

It also claimed that Apple offered Samsung "an advance" for AMOLED screens to guarantee capacity this year. It said that Samsung's Super AMOLED screens offer bright screens, less sunlight reflection and reduced power consumption, resulting in a "significant advantage" over traditional LCD displays.

The iPad 2 utilizes the same IPS LCD display found in the first-generation iPad. Rumors of an AMOLED screen on the iPad have persisted, and even existed before the device was formally announced.


【一口英語メモ】　
長い記事ですが、比較的平易な表現が使われていると思います。
この中で、最後から二つ目の文章で　"an advance"という表現を使っています。「AppleはSamsungにOLEDパネルの生産確保のためにan advanceを申し出た"ということです。

ここで、an advanceは微妙な意味合いがあると思います。ひとつは「〔合意に向けた〕打診」という意味、もうひとつはもっと踏み込んだ「前払い（金）」という意味です。

ど ちらとも意味としてとれると思います。　ただしOfferという段階ですから、実際に生産枠の確保にむけた協議を始めた段階だと思いますので、いきなり前 払金というのは違和感がありますが、スピードの業界ですのでありえないとも言えません。　このあたり想像を働かせて考えてみるのも楽しいと思います。

Samsung Electronics has announced that the company recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 7.5 generation fabrication facility in Suzhou, China. Spanning an area of 600,000 square meters, the new fabrication line will be capable of producing 100,000 glass substrates (1950×2250mm) per month.

Samsung said it is seeking to establish an integrated LCD manufacturing base in China, which the company views as the world's largest market for LCD panels. Samsung will leverage the new fab together with its existing LCD module production line in Suzhou to establish a competitive edge in the market, the company added.

Samsung revealed that its 7.5G panel plant in China will be constructed by Samsung Suzhou LCD (SSL) with an investment of about US$3 billion, and is expected to begin mass production in the first half of 2013.

"Samsung Suzhou LCD sets a new precedent as a strategic joint venture between China's leading TV maker TCL, leading LCD manufacturer Samsung Electronics and the center of the Chinese IT industry Suzhou Industrial Park," said Wonkie Chang, president of Samsung's LCD business, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the company's new China plant.

SSL was established on April 21, 2011 as a joint venture between Samsung, Suzhou Industrial Park and TCL. The venture aims to create synergies by establishing an integrated LCD panel production base in China that leverages the world-class infrastructure within Suzhou Industrial Park and strong backing of TCL, one of China's leading TV makers.


【一口英語メモ】

●integrated LCD manufacturing base = 統合された製造基盤 (外部に依存すること無く自社内で製造を完結できる体制)

●competitive edge = 競争力、競争上の優位性
edgeには、一般的な「端」という意味以外に、「有利な状況・立場、先行することを可能にする力、強み」という意味もあります。覚えておいて損は無いです、頻出します。

Radiant Opto-Electronics, a Taiwan-based maker of backlight units (BLUs), expects to obtain orders for Sharp's new LCD TV models after the Japan-based company resumes operation of its 8G and 10G TFT-LCD panel plants in the second half of 2011, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Radiant currently supplies BLUs for Sharp's 6G panel production. Radiant has adopted an injection process to make light guide plates which are thinner than models made on conventional processes, the sources indicated. Such thinner light guide plates, already used in LCD monitor BLUs, will help Radiant compete for orders from LCD TV vendors, the sources added.

Radiant shipped 6.308 million LCD TV BLUs in 2010 and shipments volume in 2011 are expected to grow 40-60%, the sources indicated.

【管理人の一口英語メモ】

injection process 射出成型工程のことですね。辞書なんかで調べると injection process=噴射過程なんていうのが一番に出てきてしまいます。これではなんのことやら。一般の読者にも分かりやすく記述するにはinjection-molding processまたはhaving injection molding capabilityなどと表現すべきでしょうが、このような専門サイトでは読者はある程度の知識がある・業界関係者という前提で簡潔な短縮表現をとっています。工業英語の特徴でスラッと読むには、全般的な知識を求められる部分ですね。

※新カテゴリー「【管理人】一口英語メモ」を始めました。工業英語の記事をを読む際に気をつけたい点を記していきたいと思います。工業の記事では特に難しい表現は使っていませんが、時々知識が無いととまどう時があります。　そのようなポイントを取り上げていきたいと思います。