AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's fourth-largest maker of flat-panel displays used in electronic products, said it's planning a NT$100 billion (US$2.9 billion) factory that will supply screens for TVs by 2005.
"We have this plan," said company spokeswoman Hsiao Yawen (蕭雅文), responding to a local newspaper report. She declined to comment on how the company will raise funds for the project, adding that AU Optronics officials may provide details in the company's first-quarter earnings announcement on April 24.
"The company will probably have to raise funds in the next 12 months," said David Toh, an analyst with Lehman Brothers Asia Ltd. "The gating factor for these companies is their ability to raise funds."
AU Optronics and Japan's Sharp Corp will each spend about US$1 billion this year for expansion to catch up with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co and LG.Philips LCD Co, the world's largest suppliers. The South Korean companies have opened plants that will help cut costs by making glass plates from which more screens can be cut.
AU Optronics is deciding whether to build a so-called sixth or seventh-generation plant to produce glass plates from which TV-sized screens can be cut, Hsiao said.
The market for flat-panel displays will double from US$33 billion this year to US$67 billion by 2007 on demand for screens used in TVs, DisplaySearch said.
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