Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the Osaka-based maker of Panasonic-brand products, said yesterday it will boost plasma panel production capacity a further 10 percent at its second plant in Amagasaki next year to meet surging demand.
Matsushita will increase capacity at its Amagasaki No. 2 plant to 6.6 million units next year instead of 6 million units as originally planned, company spokesman Akira Kadota said. The plant, which began operation in June, has capacity of 2.16 million unit a year.
The expansion plan calls for the company to increase production by boosting efficiency at production lines to be installed later this month and next year, Kadota said. It will not require additional capital expenditure over the original ?180 billion (US$1.6 billion) set aside for the plant, he said.
PHOTO: AFP
The decision to increase the plant's capacity is to "meet the surging demand for the thin TV panels," Kadota said.
Matsushita will start construction next month on plasma panel plant Amagasaki No. 3, which at full capacity will give the company the ability to produce 23 million plasma panels a year. An earlier press release says the Amagasaki No. 3 plant will be the world's largest plasma panel plant in the world, able to produce 1 million 42-inch panels a month.
Matsushita has five plasma panel plants -- two in Amagasaki, two in Osaka and one in Shanghai. An older facility at Ibaraki is now used to make prototypes.
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided to shelve proposed legislation that would give elected officials full control over their stipends, saying it would wait for a consensus to be reached before acting. KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Village Chiefs (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例), which would give legislators and councilors the freedom to use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement. The proposal immediately drew criticism, amid reports that several legislators face possible charges of embezzling fees intended to pay
REQUIREMENTS: The US defense secretary must submit a Taiwan security assistance road map and an appraisal of Washington’s ability to respond to Indo-Pacific conflict The US Congress has released a new draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes up to US$1 billion in funding for Taiwan-related security cooperation next year. The version published on Sunday by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson removed earlier language that would have invited Taiwan to participate in the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). A statement on Johnson’s Web page said the NDAA “enhances U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.” The bill would require the US secretary of defense to “enable fielding of uncrewed and anti-uncrewed systems capabilities”
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
RSS