panasonic lcd panel manufacturer factory

Over the past two decades we"ve seen an explosion of growth in the market for liquid crystal displays, but this growth has also led to its maturation. Companies have scaled up and merged, new firms have brought down costs and production technology has continued to advance, resulting in a cut-throat market for LCDs that offers negligible profit margins. So as we often see in these cases, another competitor is getting ready to bow out: Panasonic is announcing that it will exit production of LCDs by 2021.

This has been a long time in the marking for Panasonic; the company once used to be a leading maker of televisions, but because of intense competition from Chinese and South Korean manufacturers, previously ceased making LCD TVs in 2016. Instead, in recent years the company has focused on production of LCDs for industrial and automotive applications in order to find a more profitable niche of the LCD market. But it looks like even specialization did not produce the kind of returns required by Panasonic, and as a result they are exiting the LCD market altogether. It is interesting to note, however, that they aren"t leaving the displays market entirely; the company will continue offering OLED televisions.

Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co. — the IPS LCD plant in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture — was established in 2010 and absorbed all of Panasonic’s LCD assets in 2014. According to Nikkei, Panasonic plans to repurpose the factory to produce automotive batteries and keep all of its 500 employees. Workers who will not be needed at the new facility will be relocated to other facilities that belong to Panasonic and/or will get labor management consultations.

Panasonic Corp. said Thursday it will withdraw from all production of liquid crystal display panels by 2021 amid fierce competition from Chinese, South Korean and other foreign rivals.

Panasonic “determined that continuation of the business would be unviable, faced with a tougher environment in the global market, so the decision was made to stop production,” the company said in a statement.

Flat-panel displays are thin panels of glass or plastic used for electronically displaying text, images, or video. Liquid crystal displays (LCD), OLED (organic light emitting diode) and microLED displays are not quite the same; since LCD uses a liquid crystal that reacts to an electric current blocking light or allowing it to pass through the panel, whereas OLED/microLED displays consist of electroluminescent organic/inorganic materials that generate light when a current is passed through the material. LCD, OLED and microLED displays are driven using LTPS, IGZO, LTPO, and A-Si TFT transistor technologies as their backplane using ITO to supply current to the transistors and in turn to the liquid crystal or electroluminescent material. Segment and passive OLED and LCD displays do not use a backplane but use indium tin oxide (ITO), a transparent conductive material, to pass current to the electroluminescent material or liquid crystal. In LCDs, there is an even layer of liquid crystal throughout the panel whereas an OLED display has the electroluminescent material only where it is meant to light up. OLEDs, LCDs and microLEDs can be made flexible and transparent, but LCDs require a backlight because they cannot emit light on their own like OLEDs and microLEDs.

Liquid-crystal display (or LCD) is a thin, flat panel used for electronically displaying information such as text, images, and moving pictures. They are usually made of glass but they can also be made out of plastic. Some manufacturers make transparent LCD panels and special sequential color segment LCDs that have higher than usual refresh rates and an RGB backlight. The backlight is synchronized with the display so that the colors will show up as needed. The list of LCD manufacturers:

Organic light emitting diode (or OLED displays) is a thin, flat panel made of glass or plastic used for electronically displaying information such as text, images, and moving pictures. OLED panels can also take the shape of a light panel, where red, green and blue light emitting materials are stacked to create a white light panel. OLED displays can also be made transparent and/or flexible and these transparent panels are available on the market and are widely used in smartphones with under-display optical fingerprint sensors. LCD and OLED displays are available in different shapes, the most prominent of which is a circular display, which is used in smartwatches. The list of OLED display manufacturers:

MicroLED displays is an emerging flat-panel display technology consisting of arrays of microscopic LEDs forming the individual pixel elements. Like OLED, microLED offers infinite contrast ratio, but unlike OLED, microLED is immune to screen burn-in, and consumes less power while having higher light output, as it uses LEDs instead of organic electroluminescent materials, The list of MicroLED display manufacturers:

LCDs are made in a glass substrate. For OLED, the substrate can also be plastic. The size of the substrates are specified in generations, with each generation using a larger substrate. For example, a 4th generation substrate is larger in size than a 3rd generation substrate. A larger substrate allows for more panels to be cut from a single substrate, or for larger panels to be made, akin to increasing wafer sizes in the semiconductor industry.

"Samsung Display has halted local Gen-8 LCD lines: sources". THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media. August 16, 2019. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2019.

"TCL to Build World"s Largest Gen 11 LCD Panel Factory". www.businesswire.com. May 19, 2016. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.

"Panel Manufacturers Start to Operate Their New 8th Generation LCD Lines". 대한민국 IT포털의 중심! 이티뉴스. June 19, 2017. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.

"TCL"s Panel Manufacturer CSOT Commences Production of High Generation Panel Modules". www.businesswire.com. June 14, 2018. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.

"Samsung Display Considering Halting Some LCD Production Lines". 비즈니스코리아 - BusinessKorea. August 16, 2019. Archived from the original on April 5, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2019.

Herald, The Korea (July 6, 2016). "Samsung Display accelerates transition from LCD to OLED". www.koreaherald.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.

"China"s BOE to have world"s largest TFT-LCD+AMOLED capacity in 2019". ihsmarkit.com. 2017-03-22. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-17.

Panasonic Corp. said Thursday it will withdraw from all production of liquid crystal display panels by 2021 amid fierce competition from Chinese, South Korean and other foreign rivals.

"Panasonic determined that continuation of the business would be unviable, faced with a tougher environment in the global market, so the decision was made to stop production," Panasonic said in a statement.

It will conduct consultations with employees of Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co. in Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, the Osaka-headquartered parent"s sole LCD producer, to ensure jobs, aiming to transfer and relocate them within its group.

Despite the fact that Panasonic has been producing television sets for a very long time. The question of who makes the TVs seems not entirely appropriate, but nevertheless it is not so. Many companies turned their brands over to other companies and stopped producing televisions.

Panasonic – switched to a mixed model for the production of TVs, some models of TVs are produced by other companies according to the outsourcing scheme. A part is made at the enterprises of Panasonic.

Until 2016, Panasonic manufactured displays for its TVs in its own factory, which was part of Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd. In 2016, the company decided to stop the production of panels for TVs. Panasonic announced that due to the unprofitable production of television displays and increased competition from Chinese and Taiwanese companies, a decision was made to stop production. In fact, this means that the production quality of television panels, for example by BOE or AU Optronics, is commensurate with the quality of production of their own screens. At least visually.

Therefore, since 2017, Panasonic TVs have screens manufactured by other companies. And in 2019, Panasonic decided to completely close Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd, this will happen in 2021. Panasonic plans to focus more on manufacturing equipment for the industry.

Panasonic TVs in Russia are manufactured by TPV using an outsourcing scheme. TPV also bought a Philips TV brand license. The assembly plant is located in the village of Shushary. At this enterprise, only entry-level televisions are assembled. Televisions made in Russia are offered for the domestic market of Russia, can be delivered to nearby countries.

Panasonic orders the production of televisions from the Turkish concern Vestel. These are mainly entry-level televisions. Vestel-made televisions are shipped to Africa, and some models may go on sale in other countries.

The Pilsen TV factory provides European countries with televisions. LED and OLED TVs are assembled at the factory. This is a Panasonic factory, in addition to TVs, the factory also produces Blu-ray players, and since 2018, a line for the production of heat pumps and air conditioners has been opened.

In Mexico, Panasonic manufactures televisions for Latin America and Canada, about 20% of the manufactured televisions are sold domestically in Mexico. There was information that Panasonic would sell a factory in Mexico, but in the end, the production of televisions continued in Mexico. But in smaller volumes since Panasonic does not sell its TVs in the United States. The factory also produces audio equipment. According to information in the press for the American continent, about 300,000 TV sets are produced per year.

In China, Panasonic manufactured TVs until 2016. Due to the financial crisis in the company and difficult competition with Chinese manufacturers. It was decided to close factories in China. For the Chinese market, it was decided to produce TVs according to the outsourcing scheme.

In Malaysia, there are about 20 Panasonic enterprises, as well as research centers. Televisions manufactured in Malaysia are sold in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Japan and Australia. In Malaysia, the main production of components and assembly of finished products is concentrated.

OSAKA -- Panasonic will stop producing LCD monitors for medical equipment by 2021, bringing an end to the display business for a company that once ranked among the world"s top television makers.

Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic has been a significant force in the TV business for decades. Like many Japanese manufacturers, they manufactured their own LCD panels for cost and quality control. But competition in that business has been heating up for years, and Japanese manufacturers have had to deal with currency issues increasing their costs, a worldwide softening of demand, and brutal competition from mass manufacturers out of South Korea and China.

This decision means that there will only be two factories remaining in Japan making panels for TVs – both owned by the troubled Sharp Corp. Sharp has one LCD panel production facility in the Mie Prefecture, and another at its Sakai factory in the Osaka Prefecture which was jointly owned by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (better known as Foxconn).

While Panasonic will stop making LCD panels for TV sets, it will continue to make specialty LCD panels for other uses, such as for vehicles and medical devices. The company is said to be enjoying greater growth, and more profitability, in these other businesses.

Of the 1,000 people working at the plant, the company hopes to preserve their jobs by reassigning them to other Panasonic factories in other divisions. A smaller contingent will be retained to make those specialty panels, as the company expects the total output to drop by 75%.

Ironically, Panasonic will continue to make LCD flat panel TVs. However, after September these sets will employ panels made by someone else – most likely a South Korean or Chinese company. I guess if you can’t beat them…join them.

Panasonic is ceasing production of its own television panels at its plant in western Japan, leaving Sharp as the only producer of television panels left in the country.

This means that although the move will see Panasonic move to using panels produced by third parties such as LG or Sharp, Panasonic"s own technologies will continue to have an important impact on the overall quality of the television"s image.

In Panasonic"s own words, "Using its own image processing and backlight technologies Panasonic has been able to get the very best out of third-party panels."

The plant"s closure is thought to have come as a result of its lack of profitability, having made a loss every year since its opening in 2010, but will continue to produce panels for non-TV uses such as vehicle dashboards and medical equipment.

A Panasonic representative said, "Due to Panasonic"s deep knowledge of the varying characteristics of various display technologies such as Plasma, LCD, and OLED displays, Panasonic has consistently delivered superlative picture quality.

Panasonic has announced a shake-up of its TV panel manufacturing, which will see reductions of both LCD and plasma production capacity, and more LCD panels being bought in from external suppliers.

Panasonic will cut production of LCD panels for TVs this year, and again in 2013-14, and concentrate instead on more profitable sales of panels for tablets, smartphones and the like. It"s reported that the recently-announced OLED development joint venture between Panasonic and Sony is developing a smartphone OEL (organic electroluminescent) panel that"s both thinner than an LCD panel of the same size and consumes less energy.

It will buy in more LCD TV panels from outside sources such as LG Display, which it already uses, increasing the amount of panels it buys in to at least 70% of its requirement this financial year, and more in 2013-14.

Its Amagasaki plasma panel plant (above) will also reduce production of TV displays this year, while boosting output of panels used for electronic signs.

But Panasonic isn"t getting out of the TV business: it"s expected that its LCD TV sales with move up a little year on year to around 13m sets, although plasma sales will fall by half to around 2.5m.

The Panasonic move will leave Sharp"s Sakai plant, now run as a joint venture with Taiwan-based contract electronics manufacturing giant Hon Hai, as Japan"s only factory mainly making display panels for TVs.

One of Panasonic"s LCD panel factories in Japan is to be bought by a consortium also set to acquire the small-panel LCD business of Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba.

The new company, Japan Display, will be 70% owned by the fund, and is expected to buy the small and midsize LCD panel operations of Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba.

The Y20bn (£166m) Japan Display is expected to spend buying the Mobara plant will speed up the process of getting production up and running. It"s expected to spend a further Y100bn (£830m) converting the plant from its current TV-size LCD panel output into a state-of-the-art facility for the manufacture of smaller displays for use in smartphones and tablet devices.

Production should be underway within a year, using sixth-generation LCD glass to make the smaller displays. Panasonic will concentrate domestic production of TV-size panels at its most up-to-date LCD plant, in Himeji.

Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display (PLD) announced a plan to terminate LCD panel production by the end of 2021 and hold an auction of the production equipment in its 8.5th-generation (8.5G) plant located in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture of Japan. The equipment comprises approximately 1,000 pieces of production machinery, with the number of auction items totaling 9,000, including apparatuses that can be used by non-semiconductor and non-LCD panel manufacturers.

As reported by Japanese media, PLD has added equipment of front-end process to the auction, including machines of color filter production, mid- and small-size panel assembly, module packaging, and analysis and testing, as well as cleanrooms. The 8.5G production line of PLD’s Himeji plant can produce 40,000–50,000 panels per month; the said equipment was initially used to manufacture LCD panels and then turned to produce advanced medical LCDs in 2016.

Amid fierce competition in the market, PLD outsourced the production of mid- and low-end TVs to TCL, the third largest TV manufacturer in China, so as to lower its business cost. Additionally, Panasonic Group has considered merging or downsizing its production bases in Japan and abroad; in the present fiscal year, for example, the company’s plants in India and Vietnam will suspend TV production.

News has revealed that Panasonic used to be a giant LCD business and has been one of the top Japanese companies with more than 100 years of history (others include Sony, Toshiba, and SHARP). However, facing changes in the display industry with increasing popularity of large-size panels and ultra-HD monitors, this ex-leader has been slow in transformation and stuck to the original LCD production. Consequently, the corporation continues to witness a decline in profits and is under huge pressure. Regarding the present auction plan, Panasonic officially revealed that because of fierce competition and changes in the entire market, the company has decided to stop LCD production despite its intention to invest in new product development.

Panasonic said Tuesday it will sell one of its main domestic TV panel factories to a new joint venture focused on producing smaller screens, as Japan’s big-name manufacturers continue to seek relief from deep losses in their display businesses.

The move comes as part of a broader restructuring plan for Panasonic’s overall television business, which like its peers’ is deeply in the red. The company said last month it would scale back its manufacturing in an attempt to become profitable by next fiscal year. After the sale, which is to be finalized in April of 2012, it will have one domestic plant remaining.

Panasonic said it will sell its LCD TV factory located in Chiba, east of Tokyo to Japan Display for an undisclosed sum. INCJ said the new venture will build a new production line for small displays at the factory, it said Tuesday.

Japan’s prominent electronics companies are struggling to revive their TV and panel businesses, under pressure from recent record highs in the yen and foreign competition from rivals like Samsung and Vizio. Sony said earlier this month it now expects over a billion-dollar loss for the current fiscal year, after early predicting a profit, due in large part to its television woes.

With panels largely commoditized, domestic manufacturers have attempted to increase profits through technologies that offer glasses-free 3D and super high resolution, but have had little success so far.

Sharp is revamping some of its large-screen TV lines to make smaller panels for phones and tablets, a transformation similar to that planned at the Panasonic plant, although Sharp is making its changes internally.

Medical practitioners that rely on Panasonic’s LCD monitors will have to look elsewhere for replacements. The Japanese electronics giant has announced that it will stop manufacturing such panels by 2021 due to increasing competition from its Chinese and South Korean rivals. The plants will be re-purposed to produce automotive batteries instead.

The factory launched mass production of flat-screen TV displays in 2010, but losses forced the company to pull out of the television panel business in 2016. Since then, the plant has built monitors for medical equipment and other products.

* Hundreds Of Workers Will Be Reassigned To Car Battery Production Facilities, Elsewhere, A Plan Panasonic Will Soon Start Discussing With Labor- Nikkei

* Panasonic Is Looking To Shrink Total Output Volume By Roughly 75% At The Himeji Plant - Nikkei Source (s.nikkei.com/1U84uNR) Further company coverage:

(Pocket-lint) - Eagle-eyed television lovers will have spotted that Panasonic has changed its LCD range to use passive 3D technology. Not because it particularly believes passive 3D is the best 3D display tech, but as a result of shutting down its own LCD panel manufacturing facility instead buying-in LCDs from LG.

Now we’ve also learnt that Panasonic is going to be using the former LCD factory to produce both the new 56-inch OLED TV it announced this week, and the 4k, 20-inch tablet. Plasma TV production is done elsewhere, and that plant won’t be closing any time soon, although the company did tell us that eventually it thinks OLED will replace both the existing display technologies.

That the firm has shut the factory already really does point to its getting started on mass-producing OLEDs. A spokesman told us that although there are no dates, Panasonic is confident it can produce TVs that use the technology and are significantly cheaper than the rivals.

Panasonic also says that OLED needs to be 4K because there’s really no point in selling this new tech with the resolutions of today. There"s a general feeling that we’ll begin to see a lot more 4K footage soon. Panasonic seems confident that Blu-ray will get its standards tweaked to allow for the Ultra igh Definition content in due course, but the firm also seems to think that 4K video will be distributed online.

Also interesting was the information that it’s pretty much impossible to convert a plasma TV facility into one that produces OLEDs. Instead, when plasma TVs finally make their exit, it will apparently be easier for Panasonic to turn the plant into a solar panel factory. Fascinating stuff, and a little mind-boggling.