Mitsubishi Electric intends on ceasing the production of large size LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel, and will instead focus on the small and medium panel segment.

 

For the fiscal year ended March 2004, TV and monitor applications accounted for 65% of the company's panel shipments, most of which were 15". Mitsubishi plans on lowering share of such applications to 20% of all shipments before March 2005. Production is scheduled to completely cease by March 2007.

 

Mitsubishi will be funneling more resources to small panels used mobile phones, industrial equipment, and other more specialized applications. For example, the company plans on making panels for automotive displays by 2007.

 

To accommodate the switchover, Mitsubishi has retooled its production lines to raise monthly capacity to 260,000 12.1" panels per month. Mitsubishi Electric's LCD division will be responsible for development and design of small panels, while Melco Display will undertake production.