Philips, LG Electronics open 5th-gen LCD plant in Korea

Royal Philips Electronics and LG Electronics has officially opened the world’s first fifth-generation thin-film transistor (TFT)-LCD fabrication plant, further consolidating the leading position of their joint venture, LG.Philips LCD.

Located in Kumi, South Korea, the new fab (known as P4) will produce TFT-LCDs for 15 and 18-inch desktop monitors and 15-inch notebook PCs, as well as larger LCD TVs. P4 will reach full production capacity in the second half of 2002, achieving a total of 60,000 sheet per month by year end, making LG.Philips LCD the world’s leading supplier of large-sized TFT-LCDs. P4 is the largest TFT-LCD facility in operation today, and the first to use larger glass substrates (1000 mm x 1200 mm), achieving increased productivity and panel throughput in LC production. In addition, P4 achieves the status of being the fastest LCD factory to come on-line.

"The new facility is a reflection of our core strength in displays, and our commitment to leadership in the flat display industry," commented Philips President and CEO, Gerard Kleisterlee. "We are extremely proud of what LG.Philips has achieved over the past three years, both as an industry leader and as a key supplier to Philips, furthering our development of cutting-edge flat display applications. We look forward to together achieving a similar position in emerging LCD TV market – exactly the kind of high-growth opportunity which Philips is ideally placed to leverage, both with branded products and in winning key customers to supply."

DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas-based market research firm predicts that by July 2002, LG.Philips LCD will have achieved 15.2 percent of the worldwide glass area input capacity, more than any of its competitors. "From 2001 to 2006, the flat panel display market is expected to grow at a 21 percent CAGR, to $57 billion. Key drivers for this growth include significant increases in TFT-LCD capacity, targeting large-area applications, as well as lower TFT-LCD prices, which have boosted penetration into the PC market, and recently, the flat TV market. As the first TFT-LCD manufacturer to bring a fifth-generation fab on-line, LG.Philips LCD is setting the standard for future factories and paving the way for TFT-LCDs to become an affordable, mainstream display solution, eventually overtaking CRTs, "noted DisplaySearch President Ross Young.

Bruce Berkoff, LG.Philips LCD’s executive vice president of marketing noted, "The opening of our fifth-generation factory, the world’s first, will expedite the transition into a new, display-centric era of consumer electronics. As a result. LG.Philips LCD will further its position as a technology and production leader, without sacrificing the quality or service that our customers have come to expect."

The opening ceremony was presided by LG.Philips LCD CEO Mr. Koo Bon Joon, who was joined by LG Group Chairman Mr. Koo Bon Moo, along with Mr. Guy Demuynck, CEO of Philips Consumer Electronics, and other LG group and Philips executives.