Kyocera (News - Alert) Corporation will start mass production of glass/glass touch panels for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in October 2008, a move that fully engages the company in both the LCD and touch panel markets.

 

The new touch panels features a unique glass/glass structure, which provides superior visibility and durability compared with the film/glass structure of conventional LCD touch panels.

 

Equipping current LCD models with the new glass/glass touch panels, Kyocera will release a new line of high value-added touch panel LCDs, ideally suited for use in industrial equipment. Kyocera will also supply touch panels separately.

 

Kyocera would provide touch panels that feature a glass/glass structure – using glass as the substrate on both the main body side and the “touch” side – instead of the conventional structure, which uses a film for the “touch” substrate.

 

This glass/glass structure provides higher transparency with clear visibility, and its hermetically-sealed structure ensures improved durability as well.

 

Kyocera manufactures and distributes LCDs mainly for industrial applications, such as factory automation, measurement instruments, and medical equipment. By entering the touch panel business, Kyocera would be able to respond to diverse customer demands by drawing on its extensive experience in customization and rich resources as a stable supplier.

 

Kyocera further improves the overall visibility in outdoor applications by offering glass/glass structure touch-panel-equipped LCDs as a complete unit with “inner touch panel” – a design, which transfers the polarizer surface coating, typically applied directly to the LCD, to the “touch” substrate – drastically reducing the amount of inner reflection between the touch panel substrates and the LCD.

 

Kyocera Corporation, the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of advanced ceramics. By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a major supplier of cutting tools, solar energy systems, telecommunications equipment, semiconductor packages, electronic components, laser printers, copiers and industrial ceramics.

 

During the year ending  March 31, 2008, the company’s net sales totaled 1.29 trillion yen (approximately USD $12.9 billion).