Taiwan's Chi Mei mulls investment in Vietnam

TAIPEI, March 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (3009.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's No. 4 LCD maker, said on Monday it is planning to make LCD module investments in Vietnam, joining other local technology rivals to tap the fast-growing market.

"We have such a plan but we haven't had any concrete details," said a company official, who declined to be named. No timetable or investment figures were given.

The comment was in response to a local newspaper report on Monday that said Chi Mei planned to team up with laptop PC maker Wistron Corp (3231.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to invest in Vietnam, where labour costs are cheaper than China.

Wistron officials were not immediately available for comment.

Chi Mei's major clients, including Compal Electronics (2324.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Acer Inc (2353.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Hon Hai (2317.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), have established a presence in Vietnam, meeting demand from their clients there, the Chinese-language Economic Daily said.

AU Optronics Corp (2409.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (AUO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Chi Mei's bigger local rival, has said it plans to invest in an LCD module plant somewhere in Europe this year.

At 0244 GMT, shares of Chi Mei, which also supplies liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for flat-screen TVs, had dropped 4.2 percent, while those of Wistron were down 5.9 percent, lagging a 2.7 percent fall on Taiwan's main TAIEX index .

AU's shares had slid 4.5 percent. ($1=T$31.0) (Reporting by Baker Li; editing by Anne Marie Roantree)