xxxxxxxxxx
Eigo FactoryDigital World TokyoTokyo ZakkaTokyo FriendfinderWork in Japan
PlayStation and iPod builder taking on digicam market now

060620_Premier.jpg

The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer Tuesday agreed to buy digital camera maker Premier Image Technology to expand its product offerings to cameras, projectors and other optical gear.

Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, which produces tech gadgets ranging from Sony’s PlayStation 2 game consoles to Nokia mobile phones and Apple iPods, will pay around US$930 million for Premier Image in an all-stock transaction. The companies agreed to swap one share of Hon Hai stock for every 3.9 shares of Premier stock, they announced in statements to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

The deal will boost Hon Hai’s ability to produce optical-related devices for clients. The company already makes a wide range of PCs, components, networking gear, and consumer electronics. It had been lagging in digital cameras and projectors until the deal with Premier, one of Taiwan’s top producers of digital still cameras.

Premier is also a supplier for Sony, which is a major customer of Hon Hai’s, giving the company another leg up in its dealings with the Japanese electronics giant. The relationship between Sony and Hon Hai has grown so tight in recent years that Hon Hai built a PlayStation laboratory in Taiwan to facilitate development of components and manufacturing processes for the game consoles.

The deal is expected to be finalized in December.

Henry King, an analyst at Goldman Sachs (Asia) in Taipei, was upbeat about the deal in a note to clients. He said the fact the two companies make products on behalf of Sony gives the deal synergy, while adding optical components and digital cameras will expand Hon Hai’s product range.

Dan Nystedt (IDG News Service)


Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 04:16 PM
Author: Mark Hiratsuka
Digital cameras | Audio | GamingPermalink
Tagged with:

Support DWT and share the love:

del.icio.us Favicon Digg Favicon Email Favicon Facebook Favicon Fark Favicon Google Favicon LinkedIn Favicon Live Favicon N4G Favicon Print Favicon Reddit Favicon Slashdot Favicon Spurl Favicon StumbleUpon Favicon Technorati Favicon TwitThis Favicon YahooMyWeb Favicon

Or try our acclaimed members-only dating site:


C'mon - let's hear it...

Spammers beware: Any links in comments to commercial websites will be treated as paid advertising and will be charged at rate of $10 per link per day. Invoices will be sent to the idiots who hire you for so-called SEO jobs. All you good people will always keep it real, of course - thanks!