History
AU Optronics (AUO) is the first manufacturer in Taiwan to mass produce TFT-LCD panels by means of G3.5, G4, G5, G6, G7.5 and G8.5 fabrications, and the G8.5 fab entered mass production in June 2009. As one of the leading TFT-LCD manufacturers, AUO is a technology innovator with strong emphasis on research and development on display technologies. Since 2002, AUO has been the leader in patent applications among Taiwan's flat panel industry. AUO extended its market to the green energy industry in late 2008, and formally founded its Solar Photovoltaic Business Unit in October 2009.
The company is also planning on building a 7.5-generation LCD generation plant in Kunshan, China in an effort to set up production bases in China, and received government approval from Taiwan on December 17, 2010. Restrictions on investment in China were lifted in February 2010, as long as more advanced technologies are produced at home (such as AUO's 8.5-generation plant in Taichung).
In December 2010, the EU fined AU Optronics for its part in an LCD price fixing scheme, ordering the company to pay a €116.8 million fine. Other companies fined included LG Display, Chimei Innolux Corporation, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Limited, and HannStar Display Corporation. The company has stated that it will appeal the fine, but does not expect the decision to affect its operations.
In 2010, the company built two more manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It also formed joined ventures with TPV Technology, Ltd. based in Hong Kong. In 2011, AU Optronics announced plans to recruit 3,000 employees for its solar technology and display businesses. Following the earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011, the company suspended production at its Japanese solar wafer unit, M. Setek Co., to assess potential quake damage.
In June 2011, two of the company's factories (a 8.5-generation factory at the Central Taiwan Science Park and a TV module plant in Suzhou) became the first factories in the world to obtain ISO 50001 certification.
On September 20, 2012, AU Optronics Corporation was sentenced to pay a $500 million criminal fine for its participation in a five-year conspiracy to fix the prices of thin-film transistor LCD panels sold worldwide. Its American subsidiary and two former top executives were also sentenced. The two executives were sentenced to serve prison time and to pay criminal fines for their roles in the conspiracy. The $500 million fine matches the largest fine imposed against a company for violating the U.S. antitrust laws.
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