Aug 15, 2000

Acer Display Technology Inc. expects to complete Taiwan's first fourth generation TFT-LCD panel plant this week, industry sources said Sunday.

The firm will begin installing equipment and mass production is scheduled by the end of this year, thus reducing the time lag on 4th generation TFT-LCDs between Taiwan and counterparts in Japan and South Korea to within six month, industry sources indicated.

With the glass substrate production of 680mm x 880mm, Acer Display's new plant is located in Aspire Garden, in Lungtan, Taoyuan county, north Taiwan. If market demand warrants, another fourth generation plant will be built.

Production volume is estimated to reach 30,000 glass substrates per month initially, with maximum production volume of 45,000 units.

Sharp of Japan and LG Philips LCD of South Korea all adopt the same glass substrate size as Acer Display, while Samsung of South Korea uses the larger 730mm x 920mm. These TFT-LCD manufacturers entered mass production in the middle of 2000.

Meanwhile, other Taiwanese manufacturers in the line such as Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. will use the same size in its proposed fourth generation TFT-LCD panel plant, which is expected to enter mass production in the first quarter of 2001. Chi Mei Electronics Corp. will install its fourth generation TFT-LCD panel plant in the first quarter of next year.