LG.Philips LCD Breaks Ground for Module Plant in Poland

LG.Philips LCD of Seoul, South Korea, a developer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology, held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for its new back-end module production plant in Wroclaw, Poland. The new production base, the first by a global LCD panel maker in Europe, the company said, is a result of an investment agreement LG.Philips LCD signed with the Polish government and Wroclaw's municipal government in September 2005. The company said it is an important part of its strategy to create a global manufacturing network with technology-intensive "front-end" TFT-LCD panel production in Korea, while "back-end" module production and assembly takes place closer to customers. LG.Philips LCD said it plans to start mass production at the plant in March 2007 with an initial capacity of 3 million modules per year. The new plant will reach its design capacity of 11 million units per year by 2011.