Corning Inc, the world's largest maker of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) glass substrates, said its board had agreed to invest US$453 million to expand its manufacturing capacity in Taiwan as demand for high definition TV sets increases worldwide.
The announcement will help Corning compete with rival Asahi Glass Co of Japan to increase supplies of LCD glass substrates to local customers including AU Optronics Corp (
A statement released by New York-based Corning on Wednesday said the increased capital expenditure would be earmarked for the fourth-phase expansion of its facility in Taichung over the next two years.
Corning was scheduled to hold a conference call with analysts in New York yesterday to provide its market outlook.
"As consumers express their clear preference for LCD televisions, the industry is growing at a rapid rate, and we are continuing to develop the Taichung facility in order to keep pace with projected demand," James Clappin, president of Corning Display Technologies, said in the statement.
Sales of flat-panel displays may rise 12 percent to US$106 billion this year, with TV panels accounting for more than 40 percent of that, DisplaySearch estimated. Shipments of LCD TVs, meanwhile, are expected to reach 165 million units worldwide by 2011 from 80 million units last year, researcher iSuppli has said.
Corning started supplying its Taiwanese customers in 2003 with two factories at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (
Tokyo-based Asahi Glass, the world's second-largest glass substrates maker, also produces locally through its wholly owned subsidiary, Asahi Glass Fine Techno Taiwan Co (
The just-approved spending of US$453 million in Taiwan is part of Corning's US$1.5 billion to US$1.7 billion capital expenditures it announced earlier this year.
The US company said in the statement that it planned to use the new expenditure to produce a range of large-size glass substrates including 8G to meet growing demands from Taiwanese customers.
Mass production is scheduled to begin by the first quarter of next year, it said.
Over the past two years, LCD TV sets measuring at least 40 inches diagonally have been a primary driver of growth for LCD glass demand worldwide, Corning said, adding that the glass demand is expected to continue, partly driven by the emergence of 50 inch and larger LCD TVs.
"The high demand for LCD TV panels has translated to accelerated growth for our customers in Taiwan," Alan Eusden, president of Corning Display Technologies Taiwan, said in the same statement.
"Corning is focused on meeting customer supply agreements to support panel manufacturers' ongoing advancement," he said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last