Sony is gearing up to establish a new company for the production of small-form TFT LCDs, called "ST Mobile Display Corporation." A somewhat interesting move o­n their part, as I believe the production of small, color LCDs in most Sony products was outsourced to Sharp (?).

Sony announced o­n the 31st that they have established a production corporation for small-size TFT LCD display panels, called "ST Mobile Display Corporation" (STMD). Production will begin in April. About 25,000 panels per month will be produced (550 x 650mm substrate base).

This is the new company of Yasu Enterprises (Shiga Prefecture), which purchased a portion of IDTech in January. It will be based o­n the production of low-temp polysilicon TFT LCD display panels intended for mobile devices. This company was jointly established in 1997 with Toyota Automatic Loom, so this new investment will be the second after STLCD Corporation. Toyota Automatic Loom is contributing about 20% of STMD.

The new installation investment is planned to be about 27 billion yen. The area of the factory is about 28,926m², with an office area of about 3,269m².

Inspired by:
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/other/2005/03/31/1304.html

Press Release:
http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/200503/05-018/