Liquid screen makers go flat out in Taiwan
Koo Po-shan's business is in full swing. The flat screen on the desk of the sales manager at ADI, a Taipei-based monitor company, displays graphs everybody loves to see: orders from Europe have risen strongly.
......But the growth comes at a price. The main driver of demand is cut-throat competition driving down prices. Six Taiwanese companies have entered the sector in recent years, chasing the same market as their peers in South Korea. Companies and analysts agree there are too many participants.
"There will have to be consolidation at some point," says Mr Hsieh, adding that the LCD industry might follow the path the D-Ram (dynamic random access memory) chip sector took. "Perhaps there will be only six or seven players left worldwide."
......Chi Mei, AU Optronics, Quanta Display, Chunghwa Picture Tubes and Hannstar Display are all competing to build fifth-generation manufacturing plants and gain a competitive advantage.
......But such efforts may not be enough. Samsung, the world's biggest LCD manufacturer, recently announced plans to invest Won1,200bn (US$956m) in another next-generation plant.
The South Korean chip manufacturer's world market share of about 20 per cent beats LG Philips, the South Korean-Dutch joint venture, into second place. Samsung's latest investment plan adds to Won5,000bn budgeted for expansion already under way.
"This is now all about who can hold out longer and spend more money," says Chang Chi-jen, head of the LCD department at the Taiwanese government's Industrial Development Bureau.......
What did I say then?
Asia - by which I mean east and south Asia - contains 55 per cent of the world's population, its...
