SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's largest consumer appliance manufacturer, said Friday it is closing a one of its four plants that makes plasma display panels in Gumi, southeast of Seoul, to cut costs and rejuvenate its business in the sector.
The plant to be shut, named A1, is the oldest of the company's four and has an annual capacity of 840,000 42-inch (107-centimeter) plasma panels used in flat screen televisions, or 70,000 a month. With the loss of the plant, LG's total 42-inch plasma display module production capacity will decline to 360,000 units per month, or 4.32 million a year.
The market for flat panels, which includes plasma and liquid-crystal displays, has suffered amid oversupply and falling prices for the components.
LG competes with other plasma makers including South Korea's Samsung SDI Co. and Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.
Nam Yong, LG's chief executive, last month denied speculation that there were plans to sell or shut down the plasma business, telling investors and analysts that the company would study the best way to proceed.