LG Electronics has started operating its fourth plasma display panel (PDP) factory at full capacity to manufacture 350,000 PDP panels a month. With this breakthrough, the company aims to be the market leader with 30 percent market share in PDP modules by 2005, and the leading manufacturer of PDP television sets with 20 percent market share by 2006.
This production line cost US$180 billion and uses, for the first time in the world, technology to manufacture six PDP panels out of one single glass panel. To enhance investment efficiency, LG Electronics has developed the innovative technology and materials in line with its mid- and long-term strategy, which was established in 2003. This enabled the company to employ the core technologies of taking six/eight panels out of a single glass, reducing the number of processes and lead-time by a half compared to the previously used production methods.
“LG Electronics has reinforced its market leadership in the two flat panel display segments, PDP and LCD TVs. We registered turnover of US $ 395 million in TV sales in 2004, a 327.6 per cent increase over 2003 in PDP category, and are aiming for a 30 percent share of the global PDP module market by 2005. The global PDP market has been growing quickly due to the drastic improvements seen in PDP screen quality and performance vis-à-vis falling prices. The global PDP TV market will continue to expand to 6.3 million units by 2005, 10 million units by 2006, and 12 million units by 2007,” said C H Lee, President, LG Electronics Gulf FZE.
LG’s PDP TV’s have won critical acclaim internationally and are popular in the Middle East as well.
“This reflects LG Electronics' growing influence in major international flat panel display (FPD) markets. There is an increasing tendency for people to focus on style as well as features when selecting products. Impressively designed products are taking the market by storm. At LG, we will continue to use innovative technology and trend-setting designs to develop world-class digital display products. Our goal is to be the number one LCD and PDP TV player worldwide by 2007,” added Lee.
LG is the market leader in the PDP TV segment in 17 countries including the UK, Germany, Spain, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa; the company aims to be the market leader in 30 countries by the end of this year.
