CPT targets 1.8 million LCD-TV panel shipment next year

Taiwan-based panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) targets to achieve 1.8 million LCD TV panel shipment in 2005. According Lin Cheng-hung, CPT chairman and president, the company's sixth-generation (6G) TFT-LCD plant will begin mass production by the second quarter of next year.

CPT believes that the LCD-TV market will experience a surge next year with more than 16 million units. As other manufacturers, such as Sharp Corp. and LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd, have started ramping up volume production, more than 30 percent of the share in panel segment would account for 32-inch LCD TVs.

However, Lin adds that the rise in shipment may result in price cuts. By next year, prices for 32-inch LCD TVs may decline to $640 from its current $775.