Corning Inc., faced with soaring demand for flat-panel computer displays, said it plans to spend more than US$ 230 million (Euros 212 million), doubling its capacity in Asia for the active matrix liqu…
Corning Inc., faced with soaring demand for flat-panel computer displays, said it plans to spend more than US$ 230 million (Euros 212 million), doubling its capacity in Asia for the active matrix liquid crystal display glass substrates used to make the devices. The Corning, New York, maker of high-tech glass products, made the announcement in a recent company press release. It expects to complete the expansion by the end of next year. The move comes at a time when the computer industry is clamouring for greater supplies of flat-panel products. Recently, International Business Machines chairman and chief executive Louis V. Gerstner Jr. cited “shortages of flat-panel displays” as one of the factors that hurt that company“s third-quarter results. Other computer makers have voiced similar concerns. Corning makes just the two super-thin slices of glass, called substrates, which sandwich together a layer of liquid crystals in the completed displays. The devices are showing up in a growing number of products, such as desktop monitors, where they displace much bulkier cathode-ray tubes. A typical cathode ray tube in a desktop computer, for example, weighs over nine kilograms, while a comparable flat-panel display weighs less than 450 grammes. The flat-panel industry is centered in Asia, particularly Japan and Korea. Corning will spend US$ 30 million to expand existing facilities in Japan and more than US$ 150 million to enlarge operations in Korea. The Korean expansion will be done through Samsung Corning Precision Glass Co., a 50-50 joint venture of Corning and Korea“s Samsung Group. Corning plans to spend another US$ 50 million building a new finishing facility in Taiwan (see GlassOnline report of 9 September 1999). The global market for the glass substrates used in flat-panel displays is estimated at US$ 400 million. Corning claims to have more than half the market. Flat-panel substrates are part of Corning“s information display business, which includes traditional television glass.