Production of 8th-generation (8G) glass substrates will start by 2006 with technology that could yield up to six 57W panels per substrate, said Peter Bocko, Director, Technology Strategy-Display at Co…
Production of 8th-generation (8G) glass substrates will start by 2006 with technology that could yield up to six 57W panels per substrate, said Peter Bocko, Director, Technology Strategy-Display at Corning Incorporated. The US firm is a major supplier of LCD glass to screen makers Sharp and Samsung. Corning has started 6G production in Japan that uses 1.5 x1.8 m glass and is preparing for 7G (1.8 x 2.2 m) later in 2004. The exact size of an 8G substrate has not been set, and while it is capable of yielding multiple 57W panels, it remains more likely that smaller sizes will be the aim, Bocko said. “The strategy is to make 30-40″ as cheaply as possible,” he said. “LCD will probably be the preferred technology at the 40W and below sizes.” The continued growth of the LCD business is crucial for Corning, which operates its own factory in Japan as well as a joint venture with Samsung in South Korea. Samsung has signed a 7G production agreement with Sony that is expected to start output in 2005. Corning officials have said that 5G, 6G and 7G glass could represent 50% of total production in 2004, up from 40% in 2003 and that the firm intends to spend a substantial portion of its USD 600 million capital expenditures in 2004 on LCDs. Corning“s focus on LCDs also follows its decision in 2003 to end a CRT glass joint venture with Asahi Glass that lead to the closure of a plant in State College, Pennsylvania. Corning continues to produce CRT glass in the Far East as part of a joint venture with Samsung. In addition to Sharp and Samsung, Corning also supplies glass to Taiwanese manufacturers including HannStar, which is expected to start volume production along a 5G line in April 2004 and add 6G by spring 2005, according to company officials. The 5G line will produce 23W, 26W and 28W panels, HannStar said. Corning has said it plans to invest USD 180 million by 2005 in new LCD glass furnaces, partly to support HannStar“s 6G production. In total, over the next several years the LCD glass business is expected to grow 30-50% per annum, said Corning Senior VP Donald McNaughton. In addition to TVs, notebook PCs will continue to be a steady source of demand for LCD glass, as the total notebook segment of the PC market reaches 30% by 2006, Corning said. LCD monitors will increasingly replace CRT desktop monitors and could account for 75% of the monitors sold by 2006, McNaughton said. The added demand for TVs is forecast to lead to a near doubling of the world“s LCD market to USD 42 billion by 2007, technology research group IDC said. The market will grow more than 50% in 2004 to USD 37 billion from USD 24 billion in 2003, IDC said. It said 43% of LCD- TV panels will be 30W and larger by 2007, up from 4% in 2003. As LCD screen sizes continue their upward trend, manufacturers are making efforts to secure the funding needed to continue expanding output. LG.Philips is said to be preparing an IPO for June-July 2003 that could raise around USD 1 billion. The LG Electronics and Philips joint venture formed in 1999 is rumored to have been pondering an IPO since 2003. The business is expected to be valued at USD 8 billion depending on the market conditions at the time of the IPO and what assets go into the joint venture, a source close to LG.Philips reportedly said. LG.Philips had 21.5% of the LCD market in the 4Q of 2003, followed by Samsung with 20%, according to the research firm DisplaySearch.