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Sharp to up flat screen TV output

"Due to the global expansion of digital broadcasting, demand for LCD TVs continues to expand."

Sharp Corp statement

Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp announced plans yesterday to ramp up its output of flat screen televisions by investing in new production lines in Japan and Mexico in response to flourishing demand.

Sharp will spend ?200 billion (US$1.66 billion) on a third production line at its Kameyama plant by July to double output of large liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels to 60,000 units a month, rising to 90,000 next year.

The company will also build a second plant in Mexico at a cost of ?8 billion to produce finished LCD flat panel TVs for the North American market.

The facility in Baja California will start operating in July with a monthly output of 200,000 LCD TVs "to cope with burgeoning demand for LCD TVs in North America," Sharp said.

"Due to the global expansion of digital broadcasting, demand for LCD TVs continues to expand," the company said in a statement.

Sharp expects worldwide demand for LCD TVs to hit 68 million units in the business year to March of next year, up from 45 million in the current year.

"The demand for 40 inches and larger LCD TVs is expected to be especially vibrant," it added.

A second production line at the Kameyama plant in western Mie Prefecture is due to start up ahead of schedule this month.

"Sharp will continue to improve its production capacity to meet expanding demand in the global large-LCD-TV market," the statement said.

Japanese companies and their foreign rivals are riding high on a boom in demand for flat televisions as consumers ditch bulky tube sets for ultra thin ones.

Sharp has chosen to focus on liquid crystal display TVs while rival Matsushita Electric Industrial Co is betting on the success of plasma TVs.

Matsushita, the Japanese electronics giant behind the Panasonic brand, said on Wednesday that it would build the world's largest plasma television plant at a cost of ?280 billion to meet booming demand.
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