Samsung to Ship Limited Number of 57W LCD TVs by Year-End
Samsung will ship “handfuls” of its 57W LCD TV ($19,999) by year’s end, with supply expected to strengthen in early 2006 as it competes with Sharp’s 65W model ($21,000), company officials said. The 57W, being produced as part of a Samsung-Sony S-LCD joint venture for 7th-generation glass, originally was expected to ship in the 3rd quarter (CED April 29 p3).
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Samsung is shipping a 37W LCD TV in Europe using panels sourced from Sharp. While Samsung’s U.S. operation has access to the same product, there are no “definitive plans” to sell the 37W here, Vp James Sanduski said. Industry observers said the 37W does fill a gap between Samsung’s 32W and 40W LCD TVs, but said the price difference between a 37W and 40W panel is about $60. The 37W panel isn’t an “effective” screen size for the 7G factory and Samsung has no 6G facility similar to Sharp’s, which makes the panel, Sanduski said.
Meanwhile, Sony Pres. Ryoji Chubachi told reporters in Japan that while the company’s hasn’t made specific plans to invest more in S-LCD, that move would be a “most reasonable step” to boost production capacity. Any new funding won’t match the $1 billion Sony spent on S-LCD’s first 7G line. Samsung has said it will spend $1.7 billion to add a 2nd 7G line, capacity of which will be for its own consumption. Samsung also has aired preliminary plans for a 9G line in 2008-2009 that would be capable of producing six 57W panels from a single 2.4x 2.6 m substrate.
Kolin, which assembles LCD TVs for Syntax that are sold under the Olevia brand in the U.S., said it has widened its distribution of the sets to Europe and S. America. Kolin, which shipped about 180,000 LCD TVs through the first 8 months of this year, expects to achieve its goal of 300,000 by year’s end, Vp Frank Le told Digitimes. About 80% of Kolin shipments go to the U.S. Taiwan and China account for the rest. In Europe and Brazil, Kolin will partner with local manufacturers to avoid paying tariffs of 14% and 30-40%, respectively, he said. In Europe, Kolin plans to link up with manufacturers in Spain to assemble panels into sets. Kolin will deliver semi-knocked down (SKD) kits in Brazil for final assembly, Le said.
Taiwanese panel maker AU Optronics is in no rush to join BOE Optoelectronics and Shanghai SVA-NEC is establishing LCD plants in China, Pres. H.B. Chen told reporters in Taiwan. AU doesn’t need to invest in LCD module assembly in China for 2 to 3 years, Chen said. “It will take 3 to 5 years for the China panel supply chain to become more mature,” Chen said.
In securing key components needed to make LCDs, AU will invest in some suppliers and handle some production internally, Chen said. While AU produces 5.5G color filters (CF) in-house, it also has a stake in CF supplier Cando. “I don’t think it’s necessary to produce 100% of the key components you need for panel production since panel makers can still make sure they have enough key components by investing in suppliers, forming strategic alliances or sign a long-term contract” such as AU did with glass substrate supplier Corning, Chen told Digitimes.
AU rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics claimed it developed a 56W LCD panel with 3,840x2,160 resolution that could enter volume production by 3rd quarter 2006. The new panel contains 24.8 million transistors with a data transmission speed of more than 1.4 GB per sec. The panel, the largest produced by a Taiwanese supplier to date, was made at Chi Mei’s 5.5G factory. Two 56W panels can be cut from a 5.5G substrate.