Sanyo to dissolve TV venture with Quanta: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese consumer electronics maker Sanyo Electric Co Ltd (6764.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plans to dissolve its television development joint venture with Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc (2382.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

Sanyo and Quanta Computer, the world's largest contract notebook PC maker, said in March 2006 they would set up a venture to make and sell flat TVs.

But shortly after the announcement, Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp (2409.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) agreed to buy Quanta Computer's liquid crystal display (LCD) unit, Quanta Display, dealing a blow to their cooperation even before the venture was established.

The two firms set up the TV joint venture, Sanyo Visual Technology, later in 2006 with a capitalization of 100 million yen ($937,300), but the scope of the venture was limited to product development and joint procurement of parts and materials.

The Nikkei said the announcement to end the venture, owned 81 percent by Sanyo and the remainder by Quanta, is set for January 30.

A Sanyo spokesman said the company is studying a wide range of options to expand its TV business, but nothing has been decided on the future of its joint venture with Quanta Computer.

Sanyo, which has actively been shedding its non-core assets to focus on mainstay operations such as rechargeable batteries, said on Monday it would sell its mobile phone business to electronics maker Kyocera Corp (6971.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for 40-50 billion yen.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Ramthan Hussain)