According to a recently released report by SEMI, thin-film transitor-LCD manufacturing capacity in China is expected to show 35 percent growth in 2007 and 50 percent growth in 2008, as new fab capacity begins to come online.
The report also predicts that investment in display production facilities will cool for the rest of the world, but China may eventually account for 20 to 30 percent of the total world market.
At present, China has two fifth generation (G5) TFT-LCD fabs in production, one coming online, one existing G5 fab expansion, one G1 plant and three Chinese-owned G2-G3 lines in Korea.
Some new investments in planning stages include a Truly Semiconductor G2.5 project, a Shanghai Tianma G4.5 line, plus an additional 60,000 sheets of G5 capacity per month by IVO. A Shenzhen Jiulong G6 plant and a G6 Shainghai SVA-NEC plant are awaiting environmental approvals.
“To date, there has been very little production of TFT-LCD materials or components in China,” said Mark Ding, president of SEMI China. “However, the influx of both Chinese and foreign-owned companies that are beginning to establish these local facilities is helping to significantly grow this market, and will ultimately help establish China as a global panel making market center of TFT-LCD materials and components.”
SEMI is an industry association for companies that provide equipment, materials and services used to manufacture semiconductors, displays, nano-scaled structures, micro-electromechanical systems and related technologies.