Samsung LCD plant in China starts up

Samsung Electronics Co. reported yesterday that its liquid crystal display module factory in Suzhou, China started producing TFT-LCD monitors Monday, strengthening the company’s operations in that area. The company spent 63.4 billion won ($54 million) to build the factory. Construction began last October and was completed in May. “The factory will serve as Samsung Electronics’ strategic bridgehead in entering the Chinese market,” said Park Jae-uk, an official of the Suzhou factory. He added that the operation of the factory would speed up the supply of Samsung monitors to Chinese firms and Korean business partners doing business in China. This year, Samsung Electronics’ factory in Suzhou plans to produce 100,000 15-inch and 17-inch liquid crystal display monitors a month. Beginning next year, the factory will produce about 8 million monitors a year, which would account for 30 percent of the total number of liquid crystal display monitors produced by Samsung. Samsung SDI Co. reported yesterday that it developed small liquid crystal display monitors for mobile phones that could embody video at the highest speed in the world and with updated video quality. Samsung said UFS-LCD, its new model for mobile handsets, provides colors that are more vivid compared to those of existing TFT-LCD monitors for mobile handsets. Analysts said the release of Samsung’s updated mobile phone monitor is expected to change the liquid crystal display monitor market for mobile phones with a video function, which is currently dominated by LG Electronics. The Samsung SDI factory line in Busan will start production of the UFS-LCD in October. It will produce 500,000 units this year, 7 million in 2004 and 15 million or more in 2005. by Kim Chang-gyu