Google to Acquire 6.3% Stake in Taiwan’s Himax Display Division to push Google Glass

July 23, 2013 Leave a comment

Google to fund Taiwanese display maker to push Google Glass

Tue Jul 23 00:42:33 UTC 2013

Sruthi Ramakrishnan

Google has taken another step towards a commercial version of Google Glass by acquiring a small stake in a unit of Taiwanese chipmaker Himax Technologies, which develops tiny displays. Google will take a 6.3 per cent stake in Himax Display and has an option to raise its stake to 14.8 per cent within a year, Himax said in a statement without disclosing the financial details.Google confirmed the deal in an email and said Himax Display had been its partner for several years.

Himax said the investment would help fund production of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) chips and modules, tiny devices used to project images inside head-mounted devices such as Google Glass as well as head-up displays and pico-projectors.

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As competition moves from smartphones and tablets to wearable technology, Google is pushing its eyewear as rivals Apple and Samsung work on devices to be worn like a wristwatch.

Described by Google chief executive Larry Page as vital to the company’s future, Google Glass incorporates a stamp-sized display mounted on the left side of a pair of glasses that can record video, access messages and retrieve information from the web.

The project has caught on. Developers, such as those at eBay, have already started working on potential apps, while venture capital firms have teamed up to provide funding for start-ups working with Google Glass.

Google, which has unveiled its own apps for Glass, has distributed the device to a limited set of early users and developers, and expects to make it available “more widely” later this year.

Jay Srivatsa, managing director of equity research at Chardan Capital Markets, said the investment by Google endorsed Himax’s capabilities in LCoS displays and confirmed the Taiwanese company as a “key supplier” to Google Glass.

Srivatsa, rated three out of five by StarMine for the accuracy of his Himax earnings forecasts, estimated Google’s investment in the unit to be in the range of $US20 million to $US40 million.

Google will join Intel’s Intel Capital, Khosla Ventures and KPCB as a shareholder in Himax’s HDI unit.

The transaction is expected to close in the current quarter, Himax said.

Google to Acquire 6.3% Stake in Himax Display Division

Himax Technologies Inc. (HIMX) announced that Google Inc. (GOOG) will acquire a 6.3 percent interest in subsidiary Himax Display Inc.

“The purpose of the investment is to fund production upgrades, expand capacity and further enhance production capabilities at HDI’s facilities that produce liquid crystal on silicon chips and modules used in applications including head-mounted display such as Google Glass, head-up display and pico-projector products,” Taiwan-based Himax Technologies said in a statement today.

Google has an option to make an additional investment in preferred shares within one year of closing, to take its stake to as much as 14.8 percent, according to the statement. Himax Technologies now holds 81.5 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Valpuesta in London at rvalpuesta@bloomberg.net

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