Samsung Electronics Co of South Korea said mass-production at what may be the world's biggest liquid crystal display plant will probably begin in 2006 to meet rising demand for slimmer televisions.
The company plans to run a so-called eighth-generation LCD plant, geared to cut up panels for televisions that measure more than 40 inches diagonally, in the second half of 2006, said Kim Chung Hyun, a spokesman at the world's largest LCD maker, confirming an earlier report by the Seoul Economic Daily.
Samsung Electronics budgeted US$3 billion for the LCD plant, Digitimes reported, citing Japan's Dempa Shimbun, an industry publication. Kim declined to comment further on the plant or provide details on when construction would begin.
The company, based in Suwon, South Korea, is competing against local rival LG.Philips LCD Co for the lead in the global market for LCDs used in TVs and computer monitors, where sales are forecast to rise 56 percent this year to US$37 billion. LCDs are cheaper to make with bigger plants, with costs falling as much as two-thirds with the newest production lines, according to market researcher DisplaySearch.
Lee Dong Hun, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics, announced news of the company's plans to build the plant at an industry conference in Seattle, Kim said.
Samsung Electronics overtook LG.Philips in the first quarter as the world's biggest maker of large-size LCDs, defined as screens spanning more than 10 inches diagonally, according Austin, Texas-based DisplaySearch.
In March, Samsung Electronics and Japan's Sony Corp, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, said they'll jointly spend 2.1 trillion won on a seventh-generation plant scheduled to begin production in the second quarter of next year.
LG.Philips said this month its seventh LCD plant, geared to make screens measuring 42 inches diagonally, will probably go online in 2006.
Samsung Electronics said has it budgeted 20 trillion won over a decade to build an LCD complex in Asan, southwest of Seoul. LG.Philips, a venture between Korea's LG Electronics Inc and Royal Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands, said in March that it plans to be the leading investor in a 25 trillion won LCD complex in Korea.
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