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Press Release *****For immediate use March 9th, 2000
NEC & SANYO Electric Form Tie-up for TFT LCD Driver ICsTOKYO March 9th, 2000 - NEC Corporation (NEC) (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) and SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (TSE: 6764) have agreed to a tie-up in the field of TFT LCD driver ICs. The aim is to meet market demands for a stable supply of these key components. To meet this goal, the companies will raise the monthly production total of NEC-compatible TFT (thin film transistor) LCD (liquid crystal display) driver ICs to 13 million units from a current level of 9 million units. The increase of four million units will be achieved through outsourcing by NEC from SANYO of 2 million units per month, and production of 2 million units per month by SANYO under its own brand from autumn 2000. Implementing the tie-up, NEC will provide SANYO with design and manufacturing technology for the driver ICs, while also outsourcing production of the ICs to SANYO, which will also begin production and sales of the ICs. The monitor market for personal computers is quickly seeing the replacement of cathode ray tube (CRT) technology with TFT LCDs because of their merits for saving space and power, as well as being easier on the eyes of users and offering better potential for interior designs. Together, the monitor and notebook PC markets are seeing a rapid rise in demand for TFT LCD panels particularly in the most commonly used large 12- to 15-inch size range, which is seeing the most spectacular growth of all. TFT LCD driver ICs, which effectively drive the screen are the most important component of all. Because the ICs require high-withstand voltage semiconductor process technology, the number of manufacturers worldwide is limited, and the search for suppliers has continued since spring last year. Among LCD panel manufacturers, there has also been a drive to improve module production efficiency by increasing the number of common components between models. Between manufacturers, however, there are still many detailed differences in the driver ICs they use, resulting in a lack of compatibility between components used by each manufacturer. This is creating a strong desire on the part of panel manufacturers for common TFT LCD driver IC specifications to ensure a stable, large volume supply. NEC lead the way to using TFT LCDs for office automation equipment in 1990 by introducing the world's first driver ICs. Since then, progress with finer and high-withstand voltage process technologies has enabled LCDs to offer the high quality display capabilities necessary for their use in the PC monitor market. NEC is now the leading manufacturer of TFT LCD driver ICs with a 30% share of the market. SANYO has been involved in the STN (super twist nematic) LCD driver IC business, and, through the tie-up with NEC, it will be able to prepare the finer and high-withstand voltage process technologies needed to produce TFT LCD driver ICs. This will bring about SANYO's entry to the TFT LCD driver IC business but production will begin before that time.
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