 |
|
|
 Technology News | January 2007 
Sharp to Expand Flat TV Production in Japan, Mexico
 Hiroshi Hiyama - AFP
| | A model working for Japanese electronics maker Sharp unveils a new line of LCD TVs at a Tokyo hotel in August 2006. Sharp Corp. has announced plans to ramp up its output of flat screen televisions, with new production lines in Japan and Mexico in response to increasing demand.(AFP/File/Yoshikazu Tsuno) |
Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. has announced plans to ramp up its output of flat screen televisions, with new production lines in Japan and Mexico in response to increasing demand.
Sharp will spend 200 billion yen (1.66 billion dollars) 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 in 2008.
The company will also build a second plant in Mexico at a cost of eight billion yen to produce finished LCD flat panel TVs for North America.
The facility in Baja California will start operating in July 2007 with a monthly output of 200,000 LCD TVs "to cope with burgeoning demand for LCD TVs in North America," Sharp said Friday.
"By increasing our production capacity, we are preparing ourselves for the next Christmas sales," Sharp president Katsuhiko Machida told a press conference.
He said the company can boost its production even further but has decided to limit its expansion to keep its operations profitable.
The strong demand for large flat screen TVs should drive up Sharp's annual sales by 10 percent in the year to March 2008 to a record high 3.3 trillion yen, the company forecasts.
Sharp expects worldwide demand for LCD TVs to hit 68 million units in the business year to March 2008, up from 45 million in the current year.
Demand for LCD TVs continues to expand due to the global expansion of digital broadcasting, the company said, adding that its current production capacity failed to meet the robust demand in the past holiday sales season.
"The demand for 40 inches and larger LCD TVs is expected to be especially vibrant," Machida said.
The company expects to sell nine million LCD TVs in the year to March 2008, with large-screen TVs accounting for some 40 percent of them, he said.
A second production line at the Kameyama plant in western Mie prefecture is already due to start up ahead of schedule this month.
Japanese companies and their foreign rivals are riding high on a boom in demand for flat televisions as consumers ditch their bulky old tube sets for ultra thin new 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 Wednesday that it will build the world's largest plasma television plant at a cost of 280 billion yen (2.35 billion dollars) to meet booming demand. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us