Sharp Aims to Expand FY 2007 Global LCD TV Sales to 9 Mil. Units
By Takuya Karube, Kyodo News International, Tokyo
Jan. 12–TOKYO — Sharp Corp. said Friday it will try to expand its global sales of liquid crystal display TVs to 9 million units in fiscal 2007, up from its estimated sales of 6 million in fiscal 2006, by reinforcing its production capacity in Japan, Mexico and Poland.
To meet this sales target, Sharp will build a new LCD TV plant in Mexico, strengthen its LCD module manufacturing capacity in Poland and install a third production line at its Kameyama No. 2 Plant in Japan.
“We will try to increase overseas sales to 5.8 million units in fiscal 2007,” compared with a projected 3.4 million units in fiscal 2006, by simultaneously enhancing operations in Kameyama, Mexico and Poland in July this year and working harder thereafter toward the Christmas shopping season, Sharp President Katsuhiko Machida said.
Machida, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, said Sharp will “mount a challenge to realize record consolidated sales of 3.3 trillion yen” in fiscal 2007, which will run from April this year through March 2008.
He also said the Osaka-based company plans to make about 300 billion yen worth of capital spending in the next fiscal year, of which 200 billion yen will be for LCDs and 10 billion yen for solar cells.
Sharp, a major LCD TV maker known for its Aquos brand, estimates that worldwide demand for LCD TVs will expand to 68 million units in fiscal 2007, up from a projected 45 million in fiscal 2006, backed by the global expansion of digital broadcasting.
Machida said it is imperative for Sharp to increase its overseas sales but at the same time needs to work harder to sell LCD TVs with 40-inch or larger displays, so as to prioritize profits over the number of sales units.
The Mexico plant, Sharp’s second in the country, will be built on the grounds of its present plant in Baja California, and is expected to begin operations in July.
Sharp will invest about 8 billion yen in the new facility, which is expected to have monthly output capacity of 200,000 LCD TVs for the North American market.
In Japan, Sharp is to install a third production line at its Kameyama No. 2 Plant. It will also begin operations in July.
With the new line, the Kameyama plant in Mie Prefecture that opened last year will be able to double its output capacity to 60,000 substrates per month from the current 30,000.
Sharp said it plans to expand its production capacity at the Kameyama plant to 90,000 substrates per month within 2008.
The Polish plant is expected to begin integrated production of LCD modules and LCD TVs in July. Its monthly LCD module output capacity is to be increased to 300,000 units by the end of this year from the current 100,000.
Sharp said it will also improve its annual production capacity for solar cells to cope with burgeoning demand for new forms of energy in European countries.
For its Katsuragi Plant in Nara Prefecture, Sharp will spend about 3 billion yen to set up an additional solar cell production line. Its annual capacity is to be increased by 110 megawatts from March to realize 710 megawatts, which the company says is the world’s highest.
Later this month, Sharp will begin producing silicon for solar cells at a new facility in Toyama Prefecture. The company has invested about 5 billion yen in the facility to produce 1,000 tons of silicon annually.
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