Sharp aims to triple LCD output

Sharp Corp., Japan's largest maker of liquid-crystal displays and mobile phones, will spend 200 billion yen (US$1.66 billion) to triple output of the panels as rivals raise investment and pare unit costs.

Monthly production at the company's Kameyama factory in central Japan will surge to 90,000 glass substrates in 2008, the Osaka-based company said in a release Friday. Output will double to 60,000 by July this year, and the company expects LCD TV sales to jump 50 percent next fiscal year to 9 million units.

"In the current market environment, the investment is necessary," said Mitsuhiro Osawa, a Tokyo-based analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. who rates the company "neutral plus." Declines in LCD TV prices are "a worry," he said.

President Katsuhiko Machida is speeding up production of larger, high-definition screens to outpace falling prices and keep up with rivals such as Sony Corp.

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