Sony to boost output of LCDs and CCDs
Sony Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) announced it will build a semiconductor chipmaking plant in Kumamoto, Japan with the purpose of doubling the company's production of small liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) and charge-coupled devices (CCDs). The plant will cost 100 billion yen to build and will begin operation in October 2001 with 300 workers. Mass production will ramp up later, with 3000 wafers of LCDs per month to be made in 2002 and 2000 wafers of CCDs per month in 2003. By 2005, the plant is slated to be producing 12,000 wafers per month.
Philips buys rest of HAPD
Royal Philips Electronics (Einhoven, The Netherlands) and Hosiden Corp. (Osaka, Japan) have signed a share purchase agreement under which Philips will acquire the remaining 20% share in Hosiden and Philips Display Corp. (HAPD), a joint venture between the two firms. Philips and Hosiden formed HAPD in 1997 to manufacture 15-in. active-matrix liquid-crystal displays, with the ownership divided equally. In 1998 Philips purchased an additional 30% share in HAPD. The venture will now become a wholly owned Philips company and will change its name to Philips Components Kobe K.K.
FLIR Systems reduces staff
FLIR Systems Inc., a maker of thermal-imaging and automated inspection systems, is laying off 50 people from its staff of 775, following on the heels of another workforce reduction of 40 employees in June of this year. It is estimated that this latest reduction will save the company $4 million a year starting the fourth quarter of 2000, which will be in addition to a projected $10 million per year savings for the earlier reduction. As a result of the second layoff, the company anticipates a pre-tax charge of approximately $400,000 in the third quarter.
Three-Five widens customer base
Display maker Three-Five Systems Inc. (Tempe, AZ) has had great success in the past couple of years selling small LCDs designed for cellular phones, with most of its sales going to Motorola Corp. (Tempe, AZ). With its fortunes so closely tied to one customer, however, Three-Five has a potential lack of stability. Thus, the company has sought to widen its customer base. Now, Three-Five has announced that it received a design win and multi-million-dollar production order from Seimans, a new customer. The program calls for a custom chip-on-glass LCD intended for mobile phones. The displays will be manufactured at Three-Five's facility in Beijing, China. Such a development is likely to ease the concerns of investors, who watched Three-Five's stock drop in value even as the company reported growth in earnings.
DRS awarded $11.8 million to make infrared systems
DRS Technologies (Parsippany, NJ) has been awarded $11.8 million in new contracts from the US Army to make and support second-generation forward-looking infrared sighting systems. The hardware will include a thermal imaging unit that is to be mounted in the gunner's sight of Bradley and other military vehicles; one aim is to standardize night-vision technology across many different sorts of vehicles. Product deliveries associated with the production contracts—valued at $4.4 million—are scheduled to begin in February and April 2001.
Also in the news . . .
PixTech (Boise, ID) has delivered two full-color 12.1-in. field emission displays to the US Army; the displays have an 800 x 600 resolution. . . Flexible-display maker Alien Technology (Morgan Hill, CA) has raised $80 million to build a production plant that will include roll-to-roll processing. . . Samsung (Seoul, Korea) has opened a new production plant to make active-matrix LCDs of up to 21.3-in. in size; the plant is partly financed by Apple (Cupertino, CA).
John Wallace
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