Chiefs of Samsung and Sony Meet — But to Discuss What?
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee met with Sony (SNE) Chief Executive Howard Stringer over dinner late Monday in Seoul. News of a meeting between the two arch rivals raised speculation that they might either be re-evaluating their current partnership or discussing further investment in their liquid-crystal-display joint venture in Korea.
The meeting comes as the $80 billion market for LCD TVs rebounds amid improving demand and tight industry supply. In recent years, Samsung overtook Sony to be the world’s biggest maker of LCD TVs by shipments. Sony relies on Samsung to supply key components such as LCDs for its Bravia flat-screen televisions.
“It was just a regular dinner meeting…no details of the [LCD] business has been discussed,” Samsung Electronics spokesman James Chung told Dow Jones. A Sony spokesman declined to confirm the reports.