Samsung will start commercial production on a new LCD line in April next year that should further drive down the price of the flat-panel displays, the company said Monday.

The new factory is situated in Tangjung, South Korea, alongside a similar factory that began operating in April this year that is owned by S-LCD, a joint-venture company of Samsung and Sony. Like the S-LCD line, the new factory will produce 40in and 46in LCD panels for television sets, said Cho Sung-In, a spokeswoman for Samsung in Seoul.

The new production line is a so-called 7th generation line and accepts glass that measures 187cm by 220cm, the largest size of glass yet employed by Samsung in commercial production.

From a single 7th generation mother-glass sheet, eight 40in panels or six 46in panels can be produced, said Samsung. When commercial production begins in April the factory will be capable of processing up to 45,000 sheets of mother glass per month. This will rise to 90,000 sheets per month when phase two of the facility comes online in the second half of 2006, Samsung said. In comparison the S-LCD factory has a capacity of 60,000 sheets per month. The S-LCD line reached full capacity for the first time in October, said Cho.

Samsung has invested 2.4 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in phase one production on its new line and will invest a further 1.8 trillion won in bringing phase two on stream, it said. Test production at the new factory was recently completed, Samsung said.

By: DocMemory
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