FORM 6-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934


January 7, 2011

Commission File Number        001-31335
 
AU Optronics Corp.
(Translation of registrant’s name into English)
 
No. 1 Li-Hsin Road 2
Hsinchu Science Park
Hsinchu, Taiwan
(Address of principal executive offices)


Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F      X         Form 40-F         


Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):
____

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security holders.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):
____

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer must furnish and make public under the laws of the
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
jurisdiction in which the registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrant's "home country"), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the registrant's securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the registrant's security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on EDGAR.

Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes .......      No ...X...

If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b):
Not applicable


 
 

 
 

INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Item

 
1.  
Press release entitled, “AU Optronics Corp. Reports December 2010 Consolidated Revenue” dated January 7, 2011.
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.



 
AU Optronics Corp.
 
 
 
Date: January 7, 2011
By:
/s/ Andy Yang
 
   
Name:
Andy Yang
 
   
Title:
Chief Financial Officer
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
Item 1
 
News Release
 

AU Optronics Corp. Reports December 2010 Consolidated Revenue
 
 
Issued by: AU Optronics Corp.
Issued on: Jan. 7, 2011
 
Hsinchu, Taiwan, Jan. 7, 2011 –

AU Optronics Corp. ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) today announced its preliminary consolidated December 2010 revenue of NT$30,620 million, down by 17% from the previous month and 16.9% from the same period last year.  The decrease in the December revenue was associated with the lower-than-expected TV panel prices, customer inventory control by year-end, and the currency influence of NT dollar appreciation.  However, as sell-through picked up during the holiday period and the customer inventory adjustments have gradually come to an end, we expect panel demand will progressively recover.  For the year ended December 31, 2010, unaudited consolidated revenue totaled NT$467,173 million, resulting in an impressive 30% year-over-year growth.

For December 2010, large-sized panel (a) shipments, with applications on desktop monitor, notebook PC, LCD TV and other applications, decreased by 5.8% month-over-month to nearly 9.16 million units. As for small-and-medium-sized panels, the shipments were around 17.06 million units, down by 5.4% month-over-month.

During the fourth quarter of 2010, the shipments of large-sized panels decreased 2.3% quarter-over-quarter to around 28.03 million units, but represent a year-over-year increase of 2.4%. Shipments for small- and medium-sized panels exceeded 52.88 million units, down by 4.9% quarter-over-quarter and 12% year-over-year.

In terms of the 2010 full-year unit shipments, large-sized panels reached 113.55 million units, up 26.7% from 2009. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized panels totaled around 220.89 million units, down by 3.4% from last year.

(a)  
Large size refers to panels that are 10 inches and above in diagonal measurement while small and medium size refers to those below 10 inches.
 
 
 
 

 
 

Sales Report :(Unit: NT$ million)
Net Sales(1) (2)
Consolidated(3)
Unconsolidated
December 2010
30,620
28,156
November 2010
36,870
34,314
M-o-M Growth
(17%)
(17.9%)
December 2009
36,836
35,204
Y-o-Y Growth
(16.9%)
(20%)
Jan. to Dec. 2010
467,173
442,996
Jan. to Dec. 2009
359,331
350,179
Y-o-Y Growth
30%
26.5%

(1) All figures are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in Taiwan.
(2) Monthly figures are unaudited, prepared by AU Optronics Corp.
(3) Consolidated numbers include AU Optronics Corp., AU Optronics (L) Corp. and its affiliates, Darwin Precision Corp. and its affiliates, BriView Electronics Corp., Toppan CFI (Taiwan) Co, Ltd., and AUO Crystal Corp. and its affiliates.
 
#                      #                      #
 

 
ABOUT AU OPTRONICS
AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) is a global leader of thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels (TFT-LCD). AUO is able to provide customers with a full range of panel sizes and comprehensive applications, offering TFT-LCD panels in sizes ranging from 1.2 inches to greater than 65 inches. AUO generated NT$467.2 billion in sales revenue in 2010 with global operations in Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the U.S., and Europe. Additionally, AUO is the first pure TFT-LCD manufacturer to be successfully listed at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). AUO extended its market to the green energy industry in late 2008. The Display and Solar businesses were established respectively as the Company’s two core businesses in October, 2010. For more information, please visit AUO.com.

Safe Harbour Notice
AU Optronics Corp. (“AUO” or the “Company”) (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO), a global leader of TFT-LCD panels, today announced the above news. Except for statements in respect of historical matters, the statements contained in this Release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements were based on our management's expectations, projections and beliefs at the time regarding matters including, among other things, future revenues and costs, financial performance, technology changes, capacity, utilization rates, yields, process and geographical diversification, future expansion plans and business strategy. Such forward looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including risks related to the flat panel display industry, the TFT-LCD market, acceptance of and demand for our products, technological and development risks, competitive factors, and other risks described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11th, 2010.

 
 
For more information, please contact:  
Freda Lee Yawen Hsiao
Corporate Communications Division Corporate Communications Division
AU Optronics Corp. AU Optronics Corp.
Tel:  +886-3-5008800 ext 3206 +886-3-5008800 ext 3211
Fax: +886-3-5772730 +886-3-5772730
Email: freda.lee@auo.com yawen.hsiao@auo.com