Toshiba plans to invest $46 million in a new LG. Philips LCD flatscreen plant in Poland to meet what the firms say is the "booming TV demand" for flatscreens in Europe, with most of the new units expected to be HD-worthy.
This latest deal will help ensure that Toshiba maintains a consistent supply of panels from LG. Philips, the top manufacturer globally of LCD panels, according to Reuters.
Toshiba, currently ranked seventh in the LCD market, will take a 20 percent stake in the new Poland operation, and hopes to triple its European LCD TV sales to 3 million units annually, starting by the spring of 2009. Panels from LG. Philips would be supplied to a Toshiba assembly plant in Wroclaw, Poland, which is scheduled to begin operations next August.
Meanwhile, Samsung and Sony, the current leaders in the LCD TV market, said a few months ago the firms would invest about $2 billion in an expansion plan for its own joint operation.
