4/02/2007

LG.Philips LCD begins full-scale production at Poland factory

LG.Philips LCD Co., a major manufacturer of liquid crystal displays, said Sunday that it began full-scale production at its new factory in Poland to meet growing demand in Europe.

The plant, located in Kobierzyce, near Wroclaw in southwestern Poland, will produce screens mainly for 32-inch and larger LCD televisions, LG.Philips said in a statement. It is the company's second overseas factory.

The plant will assemble the screens from LCD panels produced at LG.Philips' two plants in South Korea by adding backlights and other basic components, spokeswoman Sue Kim said.

The screens will be sent to customers with nearby factories, including Royal Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands and Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

Philips has a TV plant in Hungary while Matsushita has one in the Czech Republic.

Japan's Toshiba Corp., which has a 19.9 percent investment in LG.Philips' Poland plant, is also constructing an LCD TV plant in the vicinity, with production scheduled to start in August 2007.

LG.Philips LCD competes with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. for dominance in liquid crystal displays, which are used in flat-panel televisions, computer monitors and notebook computers.

"The start of mass production and the establishment of a base in Poland have enabled LG.Philips LCD to secure a strong foundation for mutual growth with our customers in the fast-growing European LCD TV market," Kwon Young-soo, LG.Philips LCD's president and CEO, said in the statement.

The company plans to expand annual production capacity at the plant from an initial 3 million screens to 11 million by 2011.

Citing a report last month by market researcher DisplaySearch, LG.Philips said Europe accounted for 39.3 percent of the worldwide LCD TV market in 2006.

LG.Philips LCD is a joint venture between South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. and Philips Electronics.

Source:iht.com



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