| |
No. 0489
Nov, 16 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information:
Kenzo Shirai/Matthew Nicholson
PR Dept.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
03-3218-2359/2346
Kenzo.Shirai@hq.melco.co.jp
Matthew.Nicholson@hq.melco.co.jp
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION AND CHUNGWA
PICTURE TUBE, LTD. AGREE TO STRATEGIC ALLIANCE FOR PDP DEVELOPMENT
Development Strategic Alliance Aimed at Lowering Price of PDPs
TOKYO, November 16, 1999
-- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation ("Mitsubishi Electric") (President:
Ichiro Taniguchi) and Chunghwa Picture Tube, Ltd. ("Chunghwa Picture
Tube" *1 (CEO:
Cheng Yuan Lin) have agreed to a strategic alliance in the field
of plasma display panel (PDP)*2
development and aim to accelerate the pace
of the panel set business.
Background to Establishment of Strategic Alliance
Our networked society has been created
through the spread of PCs, the Internet and through the convergence
of data, communications, and video through developments in digital
and multimedia technology. Plasma display panels, along with CRT*3,
LCD and DLP™*4
technology, are an important core component
of video display devices for this networked society. This business
holds the key for future human interfacing.
High growth is expected for PDPs in the future
due to their wide-screens, flat-panels and brightness. Applications
of the technology for such purposes as public displays are increasing,
and demand for the devices is expected to reach 600,000 to 1 million
units by 2002.
Although the PDP industry itself is entering
a period of growth, problems have arisen relating to standards demanded
by the market regarding issues such as price, brightness, and energy
consumption, and demand lags behind initial forecasts. A more comprehensive
product lineup, further development of technology and improvements
in productivity are required.
Description of Strategic Alliance
This development strategic alliance aims to efficiently
expand development by means of the mutual promotion of each firm's
development through division of labor. Mitsubishi Electric will
further enhance the development technology in PDP panels it has
nurtured over the years, while Chunghwa Picture Tube will develop
its mass production technology, applying the advanced production
and mass production technology it has developed for CRTs and LCD
panels to the PDP business.
Mitsubishi Electric will
enter the market with 46-inch, wide VGA*5
monitors in fall 2000 at a target price of
under 1 million yen. Furthermore, the company will prepare even
higher resolution XGA*6 monitors.
Assuming it can acquire PDP panel technology
for the world market at an early date, Chunghwa Picture Tube plans
to start production of full-scale panel production lines from fall
2001.
Aim of Strategic Alliance
The aim of this development strategic alliance,
with the prospect of a full-scale PDP business, is to reach a synergy
between Mitsubishi Electric's skill in technological development
and Chunghwa Picture Tube's strengths in production technology.
Mitsubishi Electric possesses industry leading-edge
technology in PDP development. In order to enhance its product line
and improve price competitiveness, which vital to development in
this sector, the company searched for a strategic partner. Chunghwa
Picture Tube boasts superb production technology and stable production
results in CRTs for television and display monitors over many years,
as well as in liquid crystal display production starting in FY1999.
Both firms see a bright future for this business
and will build a competitive business that combines the strengths
of each company. The firms will promote product differentiation,
and product strength, and improvements in both development and production
in the panel and set businesses with foreseeable business targets
fixed on the office market, with the possibility of introducing
the product into the home use market in the future.
# # #
With more than 75 years of experience
in providing reliable, high-quality products to both corporate clients
and general consumers all over the world, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales
of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing
and communications, space development and satellite communications,
consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation
and construction. With operations in 34 countries, Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation recorded consolidated group sales of over US$31 billion
in the year ended March 31, 1999. Additional information on Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation is available at global.mitsubishielectric.com.
*1 Profile of Chunghwa Picture Tube, Ltd.
Established: May 1971
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Capital: NT$ 33.9 billion
CEO: Cheng Yuan Lin
Business: Manufacture of picture tubes and flat panel screens for
televisions and monitors
Employees: Approx. 15,000
Turnover NT$ (FY1998 results): 43.9 billion (\ 150 billion)
*2 PDP (Plasma Display Panel): A video
display device using plasma discharge and possessing excellent wide-screen,
flat-panel, and wide-angle visibility characteristics.
*3 CRT (Cathode Ray Tube): Cathode-ray
tube
*4 DLP™ (Digital Light Processing™):
DLP™ (Digital Light Processing™) is a technology developed
by Texas Instruments Incorporated ("Texas Instruments") of the US
that incorporates the display element Digital Micromirror Device (DMD™),
also developed by Texas Instruments, as the core component of its
technology. A DMD is a one-square-centimeter optical semiconductor
chip with microscopic mirrors arrayed on a silicon base element. DMDs
function as optical switches that create high-resolution, full-color
video by controlling light from a light source by adjusting the orientation
of these tiny mirrors.
Note: (Digital Light Processing™,
DLP™,
Digital Micromirror Device™
and DMD™ are
registered trademarks of Texas Instruments.)
* 5 VGA: Screen resolution supporting
640 horizontal pixels by 480 vertical pixels.
* 6 XGA: Screen resolution supporting
1,024 horizontal pixels by 768 vertical pixels. |
