TMCnet News
Wintek to Set Up LCD Module Plant in India(Taiwan Economic News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Taipei, Nov. 24, 2006 (CENS)--The Wintek Corp., a major supplier of small- to medium-size liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in Taiwan, has announced plans to invest tens of million U.S. dollars in setting up a cellphone-panel LCD module (LCM) plant in the Nokia Telecom Special Economic Zone in India Wintek's new India plant will supply cellphone panels to big international handset brands and the facility will become the first plant of its kind in the nation Hyley Huang, chairman and president of Wintek, pointed out that the India investment project is expected to help Wintek outstrip major rival Samsung SDI of South Korea to become the world's No. 1 cellphone-panel supplier in 2007 or 2008 In addition to Wintek, some other global major suppliers of cellphone parts are also invited by Nokia, the world's No. 1 handset brand, to set up production plants in the special economic zone in India, including Jabil and Hon Hai Group Nokia would replace Motorola as Wintek's largest cellphone-panel customer in the future, Huang said India has become a new target market for most international cellphone brands in recent years. Nokia plans to pour US$150 million into the special economic zone to establish cellphone and related telecom equipment and facilities In addition to Nokia, Huang said, many international big handset makers such as Motorola, Flextronics, and Foxcom have announced plans to invest in India, and Wintek is expected to directly supply its products to them in the near future A senior Wintek official pointed out that India is a newly emerging cellphone market with strong sales potential, trailing mainland China. Statistics compiled by DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in flat panel display (FPD) market research and consulting, Wintek is currently the world's No. 1 cellphone-panel supplier and its customer list covers almost all major brands and contract suppliers in the world In September this year, Wintek bought a third-generation thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel plant from HannStar Display Corp. , a local maker of large-sized panels, for NT$6.1 billion (US$185.98 million at US$1: NT$32.8). Copyright 2006 China Economic News Service. Source : Financial Times Information Limited (Trademark) |