Samsung readies seventh-generation LCD line
World's top maker of memory and flat screens prepares to begin production of motherglass designed for 40-inch panels.
Analysts are concerned that the LCD industry could face overcapacity next year as heavyweights like Samsung and LG.Philips LCD, the world's No.2 player, ramp up output.
The South Korean company concluded that the pilot test of Line 7-2, the second manufacturing line adopting so-called "seventh-generation" motherglass measuring 1.87 meters by 2.2 meters, the company said in a statement.
The line will produce 45,000 substrates, from which eight 40-inch panels can be produced per month as of April. Samsung earlier said it would start mass production from the line in the first half of 2006.
It will boost production further in the second half to reach the line's full capacity of 90,000 substrates per month.
Samsung, also the world's biggest memory chipmaker, invested 4.13 trillion won on the second seventh-generation line.
The company already runs Line 7-1 jointly with Sony, which produces 60,000 substrates per month.
Bigger glass plates allow LCD makers to get more panels from one plate, boosting productivity and lowering production costs.
The president of Samsung's LCD business, Lee Sang-wan, earlier in October predicted that the global LCD TV market would balloon to at least 100 million units in 2010, from an estimated 15 million to 20 million this year.
Samsung has said it is planning to build an eighth-generation line next year.
Shares in Samsung, the most valuable technology firm outside the United States, rose 1.1 percent to 552,000 won ($530.637) by 7:59 p.m. PST, compared with the wider market's 1.23 percent gain.