Although it is expected that major LCD equipment manufacturing countries such as Taiwan and China will expand their facility investment from the second half of this year, with a continued weak yen the situation will be similar when it comes to the bidding competition of the CMO 7 generation.
According to industry sources on July 8, domestic firms participated in almost all bidding competitions but in vain. Only KCtech and DMS achieved their goals. KCtech received an order worth 8 billion won (US$8.69 million) while DMS received an order worth 13.6 billion won (US$14.8 million).
In fact, the exchange rate of won and yen plunged from 1,012 won per 100 yen to 750 won. Thanks to the fact that key components are imported from Japan, manufacturing costs are lowered but there are no changes in other costs. The price competitiveness compared to Japanese companies is thought to be 15 to 20% lower than that in 2004.
In particular, AUoptronics, Century, IVO and other Taiwanese and Chinese companies are moving to make investment in LCD production lines of 7th generation and 5th generation. Against this backdrop, countermeasures employed by domestic companies are at the center of discussion in the industry.
