OSAKA -- Matsushita PDP Co., a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., will increase output of plasma display panels by setting up a new 50 billion yen plant, Matsushita officials said Friday.
Matsushita PDP hopes to triple its PDP production capacity to more than 60,000 units per month and gain the largest share of the global market.
The move will allow Matsushita PDP to step up competition with industry leader Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Ltd., a joint venture between Fujitsu Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd., which is planning to boost its output to 45,000 PDPs a month.
According to the officials, Matsushita's new plant will be built adjacent to its present PDP plant in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, and is expected to begin production next spring.
The new facility will have a monthly output capacity of 30,000 to 40,000 PDPs, while the present plant has an output capacity of between 15,000 and 20,000 PDPs a month.
The parent firm said it also expects to begin mass-producing PDPs in China this summer, they said.
Matsushita PDP is owned 75 percent by Matsushita and the rest by Toray Industries Inc.