lcd panel nec akita brands

TOKYO, March 4 (Reuters) - Japan"s NEC Corpsaid on Wednesday it would close a liquid crystal display plant in southern Japan in December, as the company faces a $3 billion annual loss amid a global glut in the LCD sector.

The factory, owned by NEC unit NEC LCD Technologies Ltd, employs 370 workers and has a monthly production capacity of 86,000 industrial-use LCD panels, mainly small to mid-size panels for products such as point-of-sale terminals and mobile devices.

NEC LCD Technologies said it will integrate production into another plant in Akita, northern Japan, and plans to halve its work force to 600 by March 2010 through voluntary retirement.

NEC said in January it was looking for ways to get out of the industrial LCD display-related business and cut its group-wide work force by 20,000 people by March 2010.

NEC shares gained 3.6 percent to 231 yen by 0521 GMT, against a 0.9 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei average. ($1=98.44 Yen) (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Sachi Izumi; Editing by Michael Watson)

3D displays that work without glasses have been a hot topic in the tech industry for quite a while now. Reportedly, NEC LCD Technologies has made a leap forward by developing a 12.1-inch 3D display that will go on sale in Japan as early as next spring.

NEC plans to offer displays as small as 3.1 inches (and smaller) as well, anticipating a rise in popularity of portable 3D TVs in the next years. With the bigger model, NEC is targeting game arcade operators, industrial design companies and medical application providers, for example to simulate surgeries. The displays will be built in an NEC plant in Akita, Japan.

NEC claims that unlike other 3D displays, their product’s performance regarding the resolution of the screen is on par with existing 2D screens (without giving any details). The picture shows a 3D display NEC showcased in 2007 (there are no pictures of the new 3D display yet).

As the epicenter of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 was located close to the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi, the local area has suffered catastrophic damage. But Miyagi is located some distance from the areas where Japan"s panel industry is concentrated. As Japan"s TFT LCD factories and component plants are mostly located in central and southern Japan, Digitimes Research believes the recent earthquake is not predicted to have a major impact on the majority of key panel component suppliers in Japan.

Factories located in areas where the magnitude of the earthquake was relatively high (5-lower or above, according to the JMA seismic intensity scale used in Japan) include the Asahi Glass (AGC) plant in Yonezawa; Hitachi and IPS Alpha"s plants in Mobara, Chiba (3.8G, 4.5G and 6G); NEC"s 3G plant in Akita; DNP and Toppan"s old color filter (CF) production lines; Fujifilm"s LCD optical film plant; and the former CF factory of Andes, which was subsequently reorganized under Japan"s Civil Rehabilitation Law to become a glass touch sensor plant.

The more seriously affected TFT LCD panel factories include Hitachi and IPS Alpha"s plants in Mobara, Chiba and NEC"s 3G plant in Akita. But these facilities all essentially consist of older production lines. While Hitachi remains one of the main global suppliers, the majority of the other panel production lines have already been demoted to second or third tier plants. The earthquake is therefore not anticipated to have a major impact on global panel supplies.

It is worth noting that the earthquake may have a more serious impact on DNP"s CF factory located in Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, where the earthquake"s seismic intensity was rated at 5-lower. Toppan"s CF factory in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture was also hit with a seismic intensity of 5-lower. Fujifilm"s polarizer TAC film plant in Minamiashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture is located in an area hit with a seismic intensity of 5-lower, and may also be more seriously affected.Earthquake impact on Japan"s LCD component industry

TOKYO, January 30, 2003---NEC Corporation (NEC) (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) (TYSE: 6701) today resolved at its Board of Directors meeting to establish a new liquid crystal display (LCD) company called NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. as part of its business reorganization plan (announced in May 2002) that centered on separating each of the businesses of NEC Electron Devices.

Kazuo Okuno, Associate Senior Vice President at NEC Corporation has been appointed President of the new company. Mr. Okuno, who brings with him proven leadership from his former position as President of NEC Kansai, Ltd., is expected to continue to implement strong management reforms that will strengthen and promote NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd."s capabilities and expertise in providing industry-leading color LCD technologies and products.

NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. will develop, design, manufacture and sell color LCDs and target the industrial market by providing value-added, specialized customization for display products. The company will focus its business model to concentrate on the development of ultra-wide viewing angle technologies and high-resolution display modules that are in demand for high-end monitors. The streamlined management team and company structure will ensure rapid decision-making and provide a flexible base to adapt quickly to changes in market conditions.

In addition to the establishment of the new company, NEC continues its worldwide sales and distribution of LCD products. NEC Electronics America, Inc. is the main sales supplier of NEC active-matrix LCD and PDP modules in North America, and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH markets and sells NEC thin film transistor (TFT) active-matrix LCD and PDP modules in Europe.

NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY, FTSE: 6701q.l, TSE: 6701) is one of the world"s leading providers of broadband and mobile Internet solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as a Global Fortune 500(R) company and one of the world"s top patent-producing companies, the NEC group delivers tailored solutions in the core technologies and services required in a networked world, ranging from advanced semiconductor solutions, to high-speed, large-capacity mission critical systems, system integration, and broadband and mobile technologies. The NEC group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net sales of approximately $39 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2002. For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at http://www.nec.com.

TOKYO: Electronics giant NEC Corp said on Wednesday that it was closing a liquid crystal display plant and cutting 590 workers by voluntary retirement to cut costs.

NEC LCD Technologies, a NEC subsidiary, said it was responding to plunging demand for LCD products caused by the global slowdown. The strong yen also made cost cuts necessary, it said.

The subsidiary"s Kagoshima plant in southwestern Japan will close at the end of December 2009, and production will be moved to the Akita plant, northern Japan. Staffing will be reduced from 1,190 to about 600 by the end of March 2010, mainly through a voluntary retirement program, it said in a release.

``Our worldwide business strategy remains unchanged, and with the current restructuring we expect to further strengthen our competitive position in the market,"" said Toshihiko Ueno, president of NEC LCD Technologies.

According to a variety of wire sources, NEC factories in both the Iwate and Fukushima prefectures have been closed because of electricity and water supply problems. Fujitsu announced on Monday that it shut down 10 plants. Hitachi has closed down six factories. Canon has closed eight factories, and Nikon has closed four facilities.

Through its U.S. operation, Sharp issued a statement expressing "deepest sympathy to all the people affected by this earthquake. There are no extensive damages to our buildings or production facilities in Japan including our plant located in Yaita-city, Tochigi prefecture." Its LCD panel production facilities located in Sakai-city, Kameyama-city, Taki-cho and Tenri-city are operating normally.

• Akita Epson Corporation (Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture). Operations have been suspended due to a power cut caused by the earthquake. Damage to the buildings and production facilities were minimal. While carefully confirming plant safety and electricity power supply, Epson resumed operations from March 14.

Commenting on the effect of the earthquake and subsequent events on the LCD panel manufacturing sector in Japan, yesterday David Hsieh, vice president, greater China market, DisplaySearch, issued an email blast saying that “Some TFT LCD factories located in the impacted area, including Hitachi Display (Chiba prefecture), NEC’s Gen 2 (Akita prefecture), Toshiba’s Fukaya and Ishikawa factories, as well as Epson’s Gen 2, were reportedly not damaged by the earthquake. But it is very likely that these factories have paused production to gauge the impact and calibrate the facilities. These factories are all focused on small/medium panels, and their share in the industry is very minor. We are assuming that there will be no major impact to the TFT LCD industry as a result.”

“The majority of the TFT LCD industry is not located in the area most heavily impacted by the earthquake,” Hsieh said. "Sharp’s Gen 8 and Gen 10, Panasonic LCD’s Gen 8, and NEG’s glass tanks are all located in the Kansai area, which does not appear to have been affected by the earthquake. Key LCD component makers, like Nitto Denko, DNP, Sumitomo, Toppan, and Corning, have located most of their facilities in west Japan. These LCD and components clusters do not appear to have been affected.”

When the damage has been repaired — when the Japanese plants that produce not just the chips that power the worlds’ great products, but great finished products as well — are back up full-speed, we’ll all breathe a sigh of relief. Because the Japanese electronics industry is the economic backbone and the pride of a great country, that stands alongside this one, in a perennial striving toward excellence in design, process, and go-to-market execution. Godspeed to our Japanese colleagues in the commercial AV, projection, flat panel display, digital signage, semiconductor, cellphone, and smartphone industries, as they bounce back quickly, and come back even stronger than before.

In cost-cutting measures announced today, Tokyo-based electronicsgiant NEC Corp. said it plans to curtail the majority of its DRAM production. NEC said itwould shift the activities of current semiconductor production lines to non-DRAMbusinesses, ending its DRAM production in the United States and United Kingdom.

It was confirmed today that all DRAM production at Santa Clara, Calif.-based subsidiaryNEC Electronics Inc.’s plant in Roseville, Calif., would end. NEC Semiconductors (UK)Ltd. will end DRAM production at its facility in Livingston, Scotland, and move to systemLSI production.

Earlier this month, NEC Electronics cut 700 jobs at the Roseville manufacturing plantin a shift away from DRAM to high-margin products such as system LSI and logic devices.

NEC Hiroshima Ltd. will continue to produce DRAM for Elpida Memory Inc., the company’sjoint venture with Hitachi Ltd. NEC said it hopes to improve profitability by havingElpida focus on the DRAM market for application specific products such as workstations,servers, mobile phones and consumer products.

NEC also said it would withdraw from LCD production for notebook PCs and PC monitors,and outsource production to Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. of Taiwan. NEC’s productionfacilities will instead concentrate on small LCDs for mobile phones, monitors forindustrial use and large screen high-resolution monitors. NEC said it also plans to reformits production structure by making NEC Akita Ltd. the core production facility for LCDsand having NEC Kagoshima Ltd. produce color plasma display panels.

NEC said it plans to improve overall efficiency of the total supply chain managementsystem by integrating its four divisions and manufacturing affiliate companies responsiblefor development and manufacturing of PCs, establishing a new development/manufacturingcompany, DMS (Design Engineering, Manufacturing & Service).

The new company is estimating first year sales of about $4.5 billion (550 billion Yen)and plans to eventually expand its business outside the NEC Group, expecting to achieveexternal sales of about $487 million (60 billion Yen), or 10 percent of its total sales,in fiscal 2004, ending March 30, 2004.

The measures are part of an accelerated structural reform program NEC is implementingto combat the economic downturn and improve the profitability of its PC business. Themeasures follow the company’s fiscal 2001 results, showing an increase in sales andprofit for the second consecutive term. Net revenues for fiscal 2001 were $42.9 billion,an annual increase of 8.4 percent. Net income was $449 million, a 443 percent annualincrease.

Clover Lee of ESM-China wrote an article late last week summarizing what"s happening to whom in Hubei Province. The article appeared in EE Times, a sister publication of ESM-China. I have selected the content from Ms. Lee"s that relates directly to display panel production, have rewritten as seemed appropriate, and added some content of my own.

China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) produces small and medium-sized displays at two plants in Wuhan. The Gen 6 T3 plant is the largest low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) plant in the world. The Gen 6 T4 plant produces flexible AMOLEDs. (TV-sized panels are made in Shenzhen and Huizhou, and are not affected by the current lockdown.)

BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. (BOE) is now the world"s largest manufacturer of display panels. BOE"s Gen 10.5 TFT-LCD production line in Wuhan is in its ramp-up phase, so, says BOE, immediate downstream impact will be limited.

In Wuhan Tianma Microelectronics manufacturers small and medium size displays at its TM8 Gen 4.5 LTPS-LCD production line and its TM17 Gen 6 OLED fab. There is also a matrix-color-filter line in Wuhan. Tianma also has manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Xiamen, as well as in Akita, Japan. Some of these plants have capabilities similar to those of the Wuhan plant, so Tianma should be able to adjust.

Technological advancements in OLED display technologies for airplanes, cars, hotel rooms, and others are driving revenue growth of the market. On 02 January 2020, LG announced flexible and transparent 55-inch OLED displays designed to be installed on walls of airplanes to create a sense of openness and freedom in small cabins. These displays will show clouds, sky, and other peaceful things that will elevate passengers’ flight experience while traveling. Passengers can also turn off transparency if they want privacy. In addition, , according to US-based DPI Labs, a producer of airline cabin technology introduced 4K OLED screens for business and VVIP airplane cabins . In fact, in January 2021, the company successfully installed 55-inch and 65-inch OLED screens on VVIP Boeing 767. This installation includes a complete cabin management system consisting of passenger and cabin crew control panels, audio/video distribution, cabin control modules, and multi-colored LED cabin lighting.

Rising demand for OLED displays in the automotive sector is driving revenue growth in the market. Transparent OLED panels are also ideal for use in long-distance traveling by buses, trains, and other public transportation as they are surrounded by windows that can serve as displays showing information about routes, tourist attractions, weather, news, advertisements, and any others. Polymer Organic Light-Emitting Diode (P-OLED) technology replaces glass with polymers or plastic substrates and offers superior image quality and clarity in vehicles. In addition, Augmented Reality (AR) can be used on windshield displays, which offers more vivid and convenient information to drivers and also helps to decrease road accidents. Moreover, rising demand for autonomous and Electric Vehicles (EVs) is also increasing demand for Head-Up Displays (HUDs). Autonomous cars are built to communicate with other road users through exterior displays. Smart transparent display increases visualization and shows information such as vehicle’s driving mode, speed limit, visual detection of other vehicles and nearby pedestrians, and navigation instructions, which helps to increase road safety.

Based on technology, the global transparent display market is segmented into OLED, LCD, and others. The OLED segment is expected to register a rapid revenue CAGR owing to various benefits and being more transparent than conventional LCD technology. Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) does not need a backlight source to reflect and create an image. Transparent OLED screens are self-emissive as they are made up of pixels. and panel allows light to travel through in both directions, which makes it transparent even after being turned off. OLEDs also have advantage of being 40% more transparent as compared to traditional LCDs, which can only reach up to 10% transparency. Manufacturers are using this advantage to replace LCD products with OLEDs. For example, LG launched "OLED Shelf," made with two transparent OLED screens, which smoothly integrates into any living room decorating and adds a touch of elegance by hanging off from shelf on the wall and is also best for displaying TV shows or gallery paintings.

Based on product, the global transparent display market is segmented into smart appliances, Head-Up Displays (HUDs), digital signage, and others. The smart appliance segment is expected to register a rapid growth rate during the forecast period due to rising demand for high-quality LEDs and laptops for gaming. Demand for gaming displays are surging since the onset of pandemic driving revenue growth in this segment. For example, LG is all set to launch its highly-touted 48-inch and 42-inch gaming OLED displays to the market by end of 2022. LG gaming range OLEDs have already received high praise from gaming community and are faster than conventional LCD counterparts.

Based on end-use, the global transparent display market is segmented into transportation & logistics, media & entertainment, automotive, aerospace, healthcare, and others. The media & entertainment segment accounted for largest revenue share in 2021 owing to high demand for OLED screens for better visualization. Transparent display technology provides angle-free and stunning Full High Definition (FHD) pictures, which is perfect for futuristic or hi-tech environments and creates incredible effects for media productions. Transparent OLED technology offers a visual effect with its impactful display solutions that is not attainable with other technologies, making it perfect for digital signage and prop/visual effects. Majority of companies now prefer to use transparent display panels for branding or advertising. As these screens provide a strong visual impact on audience by playing dynamic graphics or even 3D images continuously, leaving them with a lasting visual impact on the brand.

The North America market accounted for second-largest revenue share in 2021 owing to rising demand for cutting-edge corporate display solutions in public and private sectors to create next-generation working experiences. For example, at InfoComm 2022, Planar, a pioneer in visualization technology announced to showcase a number of cutting-edge video wall LED display systems. This system offers unmatched viewing experiences with its seamless, wide-view LED video wall displays, which are perfect for video conferencing, Unified Communications (UC), and hybrid meeting spaces. Rising demand for OLED transparent display screens in the media & entertainment industry is also contributing to revenue growth of the market in this region. Trains and bus companies in the U.S., Canada, and other countries in the region are also developing advanced technologies to use transparent OLED panels in subways, metros, and tourist buses to enhance safety and experience.

The Asia Pacific market accounted for largest revenue share in 2021 owing to advancements in transparent display technologies such as moveable screens and room dividers and presence of major companies such as LG Electronics, and others in the region. Moreover, Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shenzhen use transparent High Definition (HD) displays in subways and underground trains. Japanese East Japan Railway Company uses transparent displays on tourist trains routed between Akita and Aomori, which is also contributing to revenue growth of the market in this region. Mergers, collaboration, and partnerships are also driving revenue growth in the region. For example, on 09 December 2020, JOLED, which is a Japan-based company partnered with Germany-based AERQ to integrate medium-sized OLED displays in aircraft cabins.

The Europe market is expected to register a steady growth rate over the forecast period. Countries in Europe are more developed in terms of technology and infrastructure, which is creating major revenue opportunities for providers offering latest transparent display solutions. For example, UK-based tech firm Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is working on a new concept, an airplane with flexible screens and invisible walls, windows, and panels to display 360-degree images of the outside. These invisible walls will be covered with ultra-thin, lightweight, and malleable screens made from flexible OLED technology and will broadcast streaming high-quality footage of outside scenes of the plane. Removing windows entirely would significantly reduce weight of aircraft and will also reduce its fuel consumption and carbon footprint.

On 03 January 2022, LG Display, a leading innovator of display technologies showcased its latest innovations at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022. OLED shelf, smart window, shopping managing showcase, and show window are some of the display concepts used by LG and it is made by using 55-inch Full-HD transparent OLED panels that provide 40% transparency. LG transparent high-end OLED technologies provide commercial, home, and office spaces with an innovative and new consumer experience.

Apple Inc., Copyright Crystal Display Systems Ltd., LG Electronics, Panasonic Holdings Corporation, Verizon, AT&T Intellectual Property, Sierra Wireless, Universal Display, Sharp NEC Display Solutions, Ltd., Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd., and ATrack Technology Inc.