Taiwan's AU wins screen panel order for Apple iPad 2

AU Optronics Corp, the world's No 4 LCD maker, has won an order to provide flat panel screens for Apple Inc's iPad 2 tablet, the first order it has received for the popular device, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Economic Daily News, citing no sources for its information, said the panels' selling price will be three to four times more than regular panels of the same size, giving a big boost to AU's profit.

AU could ship 30 million of the screens in a year, it said. The order will take up over half the capacity of its plant in Taichung, central Taiwan.

Analysts forecast some 1 million iPad 2s may have been sold in the first weekend of its launch in the United States on March 11. The device went on sale in 25 markets in Europe, Australia and elsewhere on March 25, drawing long queues outside stores.