Matsushita Electric Revving Up DVD Business
TOKYO (Nikkei)-Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has more than tripled production capacity at its digital video disc (DVD) subsidiary in California to 2 million discs a month. It will also raise domestic monthly output of DVD players to 100,000 units by the end of fiscal 1998, up from the 400,000 or so players produced the entire previous year, company sources said.
The move is in response to growing demand for DVDs in overseas markets, particularly the U.S.
Matsushita is also set to start DVD production in China this year. It hopes the moves will boost DVD-related sales to 40 billion yen in fiscal 1998, up from the 15 billion yen it earned in the previous fiscal year, the sources said.
At its California plant, Matsushita has increased DVD production lines from two to eight, investing 200 million yen. The new lines, to be fully operational in September, will turn out products for sale in the local market as well as for export to Europe and Asia. In addition, Matsushita's optical disk division produces 600,000 DVDs a month at a plant in Osaka.
The world market for DVD players is expected to reach 3 million units in fiscal 1998, of which Matsushita expects to take a 40% share.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Monday morning edition)
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