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Samsung snaps up Sony's share of joint S-LCD business for $940m

Samsung will soon own the whole kaboodle of the flat-panel manufacturing joint venture it established with Sony in 2004.

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Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
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Sony hopes that sloughing off its LCD manufacturing business will stem some losses with its struggling TV biz.

Samsung's screen technology business is about to get even bigger.

Samsung is now buying up Sony's share of the two companies' joint venture, S-LCD, for $940 million, or approximately 1.08 trillion South Korean won. The acquisition will shift Sony's 50 percent of the company--minus one share--into Samsung's possession, making it the S-LCD Corporation a wholly-owned Samsung subsidiary.

The shift is intended to ease some of Sony's continuing struggle with its TV business, which has posted a loss over eight straight years.

In addition to Samsung assuming control of the company, which manufactures LCD panels for consumer electronics like televisions and mobile phones, Sony will continue to source some of its LCD panels from S-LCD.

Sony and Samsung expect to complete the hand-over by the end of January 2012. Sony, in the meantime, also announced it will take a one-time charge of 66 billion yen ($845.4 million) due to a "reevaluation" of its S-LCD shares, partly due to the exchange rate. Over time, however, the company expects to see roughly 50 billion yen in annual savings as a result of shedding S-LCD's manufacturing arm.