Philips and Toppoly to form leading mobile display company

Thursday, November 10, 2005

 

Company to offer competitive customer solutions by combining technology capabilities, Intellectual Property, production resources and customer outreach

 

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Chu-Nan,Taiwan - Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) of The Netherlands and Toppoly Optoelectronics Corporation of Taiwan today announced they have signed a binding letter of intent to join forces in mobile displays by merging Philips' Mobile Display Systems (MDS) business unit with Toppoly to create a leader in mobile display technology. The company will be named "TPO". Upon completion of the transaction, TPO' s principal shareholders will be Compal Electronics Inc. (of Taiwan): 25.1%, Philips: 17.5%, and UniPresident Enterprises Corp. (of Taiwan) with 3.5%.

Philips and Toppoly

TPO aims to be one of the world's leading solution providers in the mobile display industry by combining Philips' and Toppoly's respective strengths and resources. The deal will result in an innovative and highly competitive entity in mobile displays, offering an extensive product and technology portfolio.

 

Toppoly has state-of-the-art production facilities with substantial production capacity in Taiwan and China for advanced mobile display technologies, such as low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) and active matrix organic light emitting diodes (AMOLED). The company, which successfully pioneered LTPS, has a high performance product portfolio, fast time to market and an extensive customer base of diversified applications.

 

Philips will contribute its substantial intellectual property portfolio and its advanced technology in cooperation with Philips Research, as well as its long-term relationships with a wide, global customer base and a successful track record in product quality.

 

"Through this merger, we will create a global industry leader that is innovative and provides sustainable competitive advantages for the long term. By teaming up with MDS, we're strengthening our capabilities to providing the best service to our customers worldwide," said Ray Chen, the President and CEO of Compal Electronics Inc. and Chairman of Toppoly Optoelectronics Corp.

 

"Toppoly has successfully pioneered LTPS technology in the flat panel industry and continuously developed next generation display technology to capture the increasingly challenging market. By combining our respective strengths, we will create leadership in the mobile display market", said Mr Harrie Brunklaus, Senior Vice President of Philips and CEO of Philips Corporate Investments.

 

The transaction will be conditional upon regulatory approvals, and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2006.

Jeannet Harpe

Philips Lighting
Tel:  +31 40 27 56299   
Email:  jeannet.harpe@philips.com


Wilma Wei

Toppoly Optoelectronics Corp.
Tel:  886 37 586 393   
Email:  IR@toppoly.com


About Toppoly

Established on 24 December 1999, Toppoly Optoelectronics Corp is the first flat panel display volume manufacturer dedicated in LTPS technology in Taiwan. With years operation, Toppoly has been successfully building its market reputation in small & medium size panel products, including digital still camera, mobile phone, PDA, automotive, & notebook. . Information on Toppoly and its products can be obtained at www.toppoly.com


About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 30.3 billion in 2004. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 161,100 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter


Forward-looking statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Philips and certain of the plans and objectives of Philips with respect to these items, in particular the outlook paragraph in this report.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, levels of consumer and business spending in major economies, changes in consumer tastes and preferences, changes in law, the performance of the financial markets, pension costs, the levels of marketing and promotional expenditures by Philips and its competitors, raw materials and employee costs, changes in exchange and interest rates, changes in tax rates and future business combinations, acquisitions or dispositions and the rate of technological changes, political and military developments in countries where Philips operates, and industry consolidation.
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Use of non-US GAAP information
In presenting and discussing the Philips Group’s financial position, operating results and cash flows, management uses certain non-US GAAP financial measures. These non-US GAAP financial measures should not be viewed in isolation as alternatives to the equivalent US GAAP measure(s) and should be used in conjunction with the most directly comparable US GAAP measure(s). A discussion of the non-US GAAP measures included in this document and a reconciliation of such measures to the most directly comparable US GAAP measure(s) are contained in this document.

 

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In presenting the Philips Group’s financial position, fair values are used for the measurement of various items in accordance with the applicable accounting standards. These fair values are based on market prices, where available, and are obtained from sources that are deemed to be reliable.
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