A joint venture between electronics makers Fujitsu and Hitachi will build a new plant for plasma display panels in southwestern Japan to cope with rising demand for PDPs in flat-panel TVs and public information monitors, the company said Monday.
The 75 billion yen plant in Miyazaki will begin operating in early 2005, Fujitsu Hitachi Display Ltd. said in a statement.
Production capacity at the new plant will be 150,000 panels per month, the company said, adding that it also plans to boost output at its other plant in Miyazaki to 100,000 from 50,000 a month by January.
Demand for PDPs is expected to rise because of the 2004 Athens Olympics and the World Cup in Germany in 2006, said Fujitsu Hitachi Display, a joint venture set up in 1999.
The annual PDP market is expected to rise from 1.4 million units to about 10 million units in 2007, as high-definition TVs become more popular in the U.S. and digital broadcasting expands in Japan.