CPT closes CRT/CDT production lines in Mainland China

Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (CPT), the third-largest maker of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels in Taiwan, recently announced closure of its cathode-ray tube (CRT) and color display tube (CDT) monitor production lines in mainland China and would use the same facility for production of small/medium-sized TFT-LCD panels.

Industry sources said that although mainland China is currently the world's largest CRT TV market, LCD TVs are rising rapidly to replace CRT TV models

Several international makers have withdrawn from CRT business over the past few years, including Sony, Panasonic, LP Displays (LPD), Samsung SDI etc.

CPT president Kay Chiu said that there is only a 250% price gap between color display tube (CDT) and LCD monitors now, no longer providing room for the survival of CDT models.

Chiu added that his company has closed its CDT monitor production line at its plant in Fuzhou, Fujian Province of mainland China. Currently, CPT produces a small part of CRT at the Fuzhou.

After closing the CDT line, CPT is scheduled to begin producing backlight modules at the Fuzhou plant in March with a planned monthly capacity of 500,000 units, and will start manufacturing small/medium-sized LCD modules (LCMs) from May.

In Samsung SDI's recent financial reports for 2007, the Korean company posted a loss of US$287 million from its CRT business in the fourth quarter of last year, the worse result since the company went public in 2005. The company closed its CRT production lines in October last year.

Statistics compiled by DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in flat panel display (FPD) market research and consulting, showed that global CRT production value decreased to US$5.1 billion in 2007 from US$7.5 billion in 2006, and the figure is expected to further decline 21% to US$4 billion in 2008. TFT-LCD value, however, is expected to grow by 14% to US$103.9 billion this year from US$90.7 billion in previous year.

source & copyright: CENS