Samsung, LG.Philips Add Gen-7 LCD Lines
By Staff -- TWICE, 1/30/2006
Seoul, South Korea — Samsung Electronics and LG.Philips LCD recently started production of larger LCD TV panels ahead of schedule at new fabrication lines here.
LG.Philips LCD opened its seventh-generation LCD factory in Paju, while Samsung started mass production at a second seventh-generation LCD line in Tangjong. Both factories were expected to produce 45,000 LCD substrate plates per month.
Samsung's new line, called Line 7-2, will produce panels measuring 40W inches and 46W inches. It will initially output 45,000 substrates per moth. Each substrate can be cut to make eight 40W-inch panels or six 46W-inch panels. Samsung said it expects to boost capacity at the facility in the second half of 2006 to achieve up to 90,000 substrates per month.
Meanwhile, LG.Philips said its plant will produce panels for 42W-inch TVs, moving to 47W inches in the future.
LG.Philips said its Paju factory expects to produce up to 720,000 panels for 42-inch TVs by the first quarter of 2007.
The early production line openings were achieved in part to meet an expected surge in worldwide flat-panel TV demand, coming from such televised sporting events as the Winter Olympics in February and the World Cup in June.
