Panasonic to start new LCD panel line early

TOKYO, JAPAN: Panasonic Corp is expected to start mass-producing liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in early April at a new plant in Japan three months ahead of schedule, Kyodo News reported on Sunday, citing industry sources.

Panasonic, the world's fourth-largest flat TV maker behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, LG Electronics Inc and Sony Corp, has already begun trial output at the plant in Himeji, western Japan, amid rapidly growing demand for flat-screen TVs, Kyodo said.

But company spokesman Akira Kadota denied that the start date had been moved up.

"It is true that the supply/demand situation in the market is getting tight, but that doesn't mean we have decided to bring forward the start of production," Kadota told Reuters.

Kyodo said the company aims to build up output capacity at the new plant to an annualised rate of 4.8 million panels for 32-inch TVs from July.

Panasonic began building the Himeji plant in July 2008 and had planned to start output there from January 2010, but it pushed that date back six months in the wake of the global economic downturn.