Mass-produced plasma panels roll off China plants

摘要

Flat-panel TV makers in mainland China now have an opportunity to lessen their dependence on panel imports as new factories start mass-producing plasma panel displays (PDP) locally.rnNanjing-based Huaxian High-Tech Ltd Co. has begun shipping PDPs in H2 2008, becoming the first mainland China company to mass-produce the product. Huaxian can now produce about 10,000 to 20,000 units per year but it plans to gradually increase its capacity to 500,000.rnSichuan Changhong Electric Co. Ltd, mainland China's biggest television maker, will commence mass production of PDPs at its new $675 million factory in Mianyang late in the year. It can roll out 2.16 million PDPs per year.rnBoth companies will be using innovative display technologies for their new releases. Huaxian has developed its own "shadow mask" plasma display technology, for which it holds 173 patents on structure, material, process and equipment. Changhong, on the other hand, will adopt surface discharge plasma display technology, which it acquired from Orion PDP Co. Ltd when it purchased the South Korea company in 2006.