Samsung releases 70-inch LCD TV

Submitted by editor on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 10:09

Samsung releases 70-inch LCD TV

Representing the first time such a large LCD TV has been made commercially available, Samsung yesterday launched a 70-inch high definition LCD TV, PAVV LED 70, in the domestic market.
Analysts say it is a significant move that will consolidate its leading status in the luxury TV market.

Samsung officials said the 70-inch model is the largest among commercially available LCD TVs in the world and that it is the first LCD TV product to adopt light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, as a back light in the domestic market. Other existing LCD TV sets are backlit by cathode fluorescent lamp.

The PAVV LED 70 will retail for 59,000,000 won ($63,457).

On the same day, data compiled by market research firm DisplaySearch revealed that Samsung Electronics grabbed more than 50 percent of the 40-inch or larger LCD TV panel global market in the first quarter.

According to DisplaySearch, Samsung's first quarter shipments of 40-inch or larger LCD panels totaled 1.6 million units, taking 50.2 percent of the total 3.2 million shipments.

LG.Philips LCD's shipments in the same category posted 850,000 million units, taking up 26.1 percent, followed by Sharp with 350,000 and Taiwan's AU Optronics with 260,000.

Samsung Electronics is currently producing 40-inch and 46-inch LCD panels in two production lines in Tangjeong, South Chungcheong Province. It plans to begin producing 46-inch and 52-inch LCD panels in a new plant, which is under construction in the same city.

"We are targeting to begin the operation of the new plant in August, earlier than the originally planned October," Samsung spokesman Shin Young-jun said.

LG.Philips LCD is also turning to large TV panels, since the company scrapped the initial plan to build a plant for desktop computer monitors and laptop displays on June 1.

The company had planned to build a 5.5-generation production line to make 15.1- and 15.4-inch LCD panels for monitors in July last year.

"Investment in 5.5 generation would contribute to profitability for the short term, but we made a strategic decision to invest in next-generation displays to secure competitiveness in the large TV sector," LG.Philips LCD CEO Kwon Young-soo said.

DisplaySearch forecasts that the size of the 40-inch or larger LCD TV panel market will almost triple from 18.5 million units in 2007 to 48.1 million units by 2010.

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