LG, Samsung Attack Digital TV Market With Large PDP Panel To meet rising demand for large digital TVs, LG Electronics and Samsung SDI plan to expand the 50-inch PDP panel lineup and increase their shipments in the latter half. LG Electronics plans to expand the portion of 50-inch or larger TV products to the maximum 30 percent of the total products by the end of this year. Shipments of digital TVs by LG slightly reduced from 730,000 units in the first quarter to 716,000 units in the second quarter, but the portion of 50-inch or larger products increased by 8 percentage points from 17 percent of the total to 25 percent during the corresponding period. "The portion of 50-inch or larger PDP panels increased from around 10 percent of the total in 2005 to 20 percent in the first half of this year. The portion is expected to reach 25- 30 percent for the whole of the year," a spokesperson for LG Electronics said. Meanwhile, Samsung SDI plans to introduce new 50-inch and 58-inch PDP panels to the market in the latter half, strengthening its lineup for products with larger than 50-inch panels. In particular, Samsung SDI projects to develop 50-inch full HD (FHD)-class PDP panels and 58-inch HD (FHD)- class panels. The shipments by Samsung SDI increased by a mere 1.8 percent from 550,000 units in the first quarter to 560,000 units in the second quarter. However, the portion of 50-inch or larger PDP panels expanded by 13 percent points from 15 percent in the first quarter to 28 percent in the second quarter. Kim Duck-yeon, executive director of Samsung SDI said, "In 2005, the volume of the 50-inch PDP panel market amounted to 860,000 units, accounting for 12 percent of the total global market. However, the volume is expected to increase to 3 million units this year, accounting for 27 percent of the total. As customer demand for larger products is expanding, Samsung plans to persistently increase the portion of 50-inch or larger products." |
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