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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (38993)	10/31/2000 9:50:28 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Taiwan's Chi Mei Sticks to Spending Plan October 31, 2000 (YOKOHAMA, Japan) -- Jeff Hsu, vice president of Taiwan-based Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., said that Chi Mei would be pushing ahead with its original plans for new capital investment to its thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturing. Hsu has said that during the interview about his firm's future business strategy with Nikkei Microdevices. Commenting on the construction of Chi Mei's new LCD panel fabrication plant, called FAB 1, Hsu said that everything had gone according to plan, and that the setting up of the plant had been a great success. The FAB 1 plant is estimated to have manufactured and shipped 150,000 panels in October. Hsu predicts that by the end of 2000, Chi Mei would have established itself as Taiwan's number one manufacturer of TFT-LCDs, while many of Taiwan's other TFT-LCD panel manufacturers are to cutback their investment strategies. Hsu went on to say that although the business environment would undoubtedly get tougher next year, due mainly to an expected rapid drop in LCD panel prices, Chi Mei would be able to weather the storm and come out on top, thanks to its thorough cost-cutting efforts. The company has already started producing its own color filters, and will increase its efforts to find local suppliers of other panel components. At present, Chi Mei purchases only around 25 percent of its components and materials from local Taiwan-based suppliers, but the company aims to work hard to increase that percentage. By focusing on manufacturing LCD panels mainly for major market segments, namely, panels intended for use in notebook computers and PC monitors, Hsu believes mass production will help Chi Mei keep its costs down. (Nikkei Microdevices)