PCWorld: Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp., two of the largest manufacturers of LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions, have both opened new factories to produce the hot-selling flat-panel TV sets.
Sony has begun production of flat-panel televisions at a new plant in Slovakia while Sharp has started operations at a second factory inside its Sharp Electrsnica Mexico S.A. de C.V. plant in Mexico.
The Sony factory in Nitra is manufacturing large-size, high-end LCD sets and the start of operations there is a step towards a reorganization of Sony’s TV manufacturing operations in Europe.
Sony already has two TV plants in Europe, one in nearby Trnava and one in Barcelona, Spain. During 2008 the TV production lines at Trnava will be relocated to Nitra to push annual production at Nitra to 3 million sets. Once that relocation is complete the Trnava plant will be used to produce TV tuners for the sets while TV production will continue at Nitra and Barcelona.
European consumers are fast adopting flat-panel televisions like those produced at Nitra. During the second quarter of this year 97 percent of all TVs shipped on the continent were flat-panel sets, according to Display Search. That ranks Europe second to Japan, where 99 percent of TVs were flat panel, and ahead of North America, where 88 percent of TVs shipped were flat panel.
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