Print

Mail

wiki links

Matsushita may increase plasma display production

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co said it may increase plasma display panel production, following a report that said it would invest as much as ?90 billion (US$788 million) in Japan to make the world's largest plant for the screens.

The new plant will be able to make 250,000 panels a month, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported, without saying who provided the information. It will raise Matsushita's total capacity to 380,000 a month, the report said.

"We are considering increasing production to meet global demand, but no concrete plans have been made," said Setsuo Mizoguchi, a Matsushita spokesman.

The global market for plasma television screens, which can measure as much as 80 inches (200cm) diagonally, will grow by half to US$2.7 billion this year and to US$6.8 billion by 2007, according to Austin, Texas-based researcher DisplaySearch.

"Matsushita's output seems high considering the investment amount," said Koichi Hariya, an analyst at Mizuho Securities Co in Tokyo, who has a "hold" rating on the company's stock. "It seems Matsushita will be more effective than rivals."

Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Co, a venture between Fujitsu Ltd and Hitachi Ltd established in 1999, had a quarter of the market as of the fourth quarter of last year, measured by shipments, according to DisplaySearch.

South Korea's Samsung SDI Co and LG Electronics Inc followed with 21 percent and 20 percent. Matsushita had 15 percent.

Fujitsu Hitachi in March said it would invest ?75 billion for a plant to make as many as 150,000 panels a month by 2007, pushing total output to 250,000.

The new plant, in Amagasaki, Hyogo prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, will make 100,000 panels a month when production starts next year, and 250,000 a month in 2007, the report said.

The plant will belong to a venture 25 percent owned by Toray Industries Inc and eventually employee as many as 1,000 people, the Nikkei said.

It will be able to make 100-inch panels, the world's largest, from which four 50-inch television panels can be cut, the report said.
This story has been viewed 1886 times.