Sharp Corporation will start selling world's largest LCD display

Famous Japanese electronics company, Sharp Corporation (TYO:6753), announced that it is going to start shipping the world’s largest LCD display from next month. The 108-inch display would cost roughly 11million yen and would be made to sell to various business organizations. Next year, another Japanese company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co (TYO:6752), is planning to sell its 150 inch plasma display for billboards. Network World.com reports:

Sharp has begun offering a monitor based on the 108-inch LCD panel that it first unveiled over a year ago. The panel, which is the largest yet to be shown by any LCD maker, was first unveiled in January 2007 at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and promised for later in the year but was delayed. Now it's available to customers worldwide, built-to-order, for ¥11 million (US$102,000).

The Full HD (1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels) monitor comes with a wide array of input sockets. There's analog RGB and DVI computer inputs, 3 HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) inputs, two composite video inputs, two sets of component video inputs and one S-Video input. The entire set weighs an impressive 195 kilograms and consumes 1.1 kilowatts (kW) when in use.

Weak demand for big televisions has hurt major manufacturers like Hitachi Ltd, Pioneer Corporation (TYO: 6773), and Sharp Corporation. Hitachi and Pioneer incurred losses on their TV operations. Initially, Sharp had plans to focus on larger displays but it shifted switched to 40 inch and smaller displays in the middle of 2007.

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Samsung & LG: Once fierce competitors are becoming partners

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (SEO:005935)and LG are two of the top electric companies of South Korea and fierce competitors in global market. Now, the once fierce competitors are becoming partners. In order to survive the competition, last week the two companies agreed on a cross-purchasing deal for their flat screen television products. Under the agreement, LG Display will buy Samsung’s 52’’ LCD panels and Samsung will buy LG’s 37’’ LCD panels. Till now, the two companies used to buy LCD panels from Taiwanese makers. With the rise of the Taiwanese LCD makers controlling 42% of the global LCD market the two South Korean giants have joined hands. The Korea Times reports:

The deal will also contribute to cutting the nation's trade deficit, while promoting investment in the local LCD panel industry. In addition, Samsung and LG have agreed to jointly develop mobile television technology aimed at becoming the industry standard in the North American market. Executives of the two companies said they plan to present their proposal to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), an international group developing technology standards for digital televisions used in the United States and Canada.

The Samsung-LG collaboration comes before the ATSC's U.S. office is scheduled to pick a mobile television standard in the first half of next year. The joint action is expected to set the stage for domestic companies to move from rivalry to partnership in order to cooperate in developing technology, making products and exploring overseas markets.

In a display conference at the Seoul Hotel chaired by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Lee Sang-wan, chief of Samsung Electronics LCD division told that in the next two months Samsung would start the second phase of its eighth-generation lines that would be able to produce 60,000 sheets per month. Till now, Samsung has been refusing calls from LG to provide large-size panels because of the tight supply in the industry. The two companies could not reach an agreement over pricing and other technical matters.

Korean companies are market leaders in semiconductor, shipbuilding and other industrial sectors. Till now, the companies were competing with each other but with the rise of Japanese and Chinese manufacturers, the companies are now teaming up with each other to survive the growing competition.

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