HEWLETT-PACKARD POISED TO INTRODUCE 30W LCD TV
Hewlett-Packard (HP) has lined up a supplier and is expected to introduce a 30W LCD TV, marking its much-anticipated entrance into the flat-panel display business. Taiwanese supplier Chi Mei Optoelectronics is said to have secured a contract for the 30W panels, the first of which could find its way into an HP LCD TV within 60 days, sources said. Pricing and features weren’t available at our deadline Thurs. and HP officials weren’t immediately available for comment.
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Chi Mei expects to ship 240,000-250,000 LCD TV panels in the first quarter of 2004, about the same amount as in the 4th quarter of last year, Vp C.H. Hsu told Digitimes. Chi Mei plans to ship 2 million LCD TV panels this year, about half of which are expected to be 27W, Hsu said. The 27W panels will be produced along a 5th-generation (5G) line, while the 30W uses 4G, she said. Chi Mei currently builds 20”, 37” and 30W and plans to add 32W, 37W and 47W by the 2nd half of the year.
HP is said to have qualified other LCD suppliers including LG.Philips and Lite-On Technology and also is expected to add panels in the 20-26” sizes, sources said. “They wanted to start out with a high-end product and then back into more mainstream displays,” said a source familiar with H-P’s strategy noting that the PC manufacturer isn’t likely to compete at the low-end of the market. Unclear is why HP is starting with 30W, although sources indicated there’s greater availability of the larger panels and less competition. The industry has grappled in recent months with a shortage of 20” and under LCD panels.
To further deepen its reach in the display business, HP also is said to be planning to field 42W and 50W plasma TVs. Tatung, whose name also has cropped up as a possible source of LCD panels for HP, is expected to begin shipments of 42W plasma in the 2nd quarter, according to the Chinese-language Commercial Times.
Among the other companies seeking to edge their way into the LCD TV panel business is Quanta Computer, which said earlier this week it plans to invest heavily in the business and ship 400,000 panels this year, up from an earlier projection of 100,000. The increased forecast is tied to Quanta landing an order for about 300,000 14” LCD TVs from Panasonic for use in the hospital and transportation markets, the Commercial Times reported. Quanta already ships 23” and 26” panels for LCD TVs that are being marketed by Gateway and will produce a 26W for Acer. Acer is expected to ship a 30W LCD TVs that uses panels manufactured by Compal.
Meanwhile, Sanyo projects shipping 10,000 LCD TVs, 5,000 plasma TVs and 4,000-5,000 LCoS-based rear projection sets this year, Pres. Yeh Wu-Chang told a news conference in Japan. The line will include 30W and 40W LCD TVs, plasma TVs sourced from Samsung and Formosa Plastics and a 55W LCoS set that features United Microelectronics Corp.’s microdisplay with 1,280x720 and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio.