Mitsubishi Elec to Stop Making Large LCD Panels

[Gregg Lengling]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said on Tuesday it would gradually stop making liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for televisions and computers, instead focusing on smaller LCD panels.
A Mitsubishi Electric spokesman said the electronics company had already reduced the production ratio of large panels to 20 percent this year from 65 percent in the year to March 2004.

Smaller panels, which are integrated into industrial equipment, account for the rest, he added. He said the ratio of large panels would be nearly zero by the 2006/07 business year.

Many other firms have been investing large sums to produce LCD panels for flat-panel televisions, leading to increasingly fierce competition.

Japan's Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. announced last month that they would create a joint venture to produce large LCD panels, trying to compete with Sharp Corp. and other Asian rivals that invest aggressively in LCD production.