Taiwan's Innolux mulls monitor assembly plant in Vietnam

TAIPEI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Innolux Display Corp (3481.TW), the world's No.2 LCD monitor maker, is evaluating a plan to set up a monitor assembly plant in Vietnam, a company official said on Monday.

"We are in the process of evaluation and there's no timetable yet," Innolux spokesman Thomas Hsu said, in response to a local newspaper report that the company plans to invest over $100 million to set up monitor assembly and panel module production lines in Vietnam.

Hsu declined to give investment figures.

Currently Innolux's assembly base is in China and the move could meet demand from Innolux's customers, the Chinese-language Commercial Times said on Monday. Innolux is a display unit of Taiwan's top electronics gear maker Hon Hai (2317.TW).

Earlier this year, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co said it planned to boost its investment in Vietnam to $5 billion as it ramps up expansion in the region.

Analysts said lower labour costs, Vietnam's geographic location and tax benefits were key reasons why Hon Hai planned to expand in the country.

Unlike bigger pure-panel rivals in Taiwan, Innolux is the only local LCD screen maker that assembles LCD monitors for top PC vendors, including Dell Inc (DELL.O), Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) and Acer Inc (2353.TW).

On Monday, Innolux shares fell 6.6 percent to end at T$86.70, compared with a 3.5 percent fall on the main TAIEX . (US$1=T$32.5) (Reporting by Baker Li; Editing by David Holmes)