Philips refits Dutch plant in bold plan to unseat rivals; company to be sole challenger to Japanese flat-panel display industry

Article Abstract:

Philips Electronics NV is retrofitting a mothballed $773.4 million plant to make flat-panel displays. The plant, in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, will be the first outside of Japan to make the thin screens used by portable TVs, laptop computers and camcorder viewfinders. The move represents a big risk for Philips, which is trying to break a near-monopoly by the Japanese of the $3.7 billion world market for flat panel displays. Philips believes that a new manufacturing process will allow it to catch up with the Japanese, who have spent $4.5 billion over the past 20 years researching flat panels. In the United States, In Focus Systems Inc and Motorola Inc have formed a joint venture to build a flat-panel factory, and military supplier OIS Optical Imaging Systems Inc is pondering entry into the consumer market. Philips has a mixed history of taking bold risks.

Production management, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Computer peripherals industry, Market Entry

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Hercules discovery on liquid crystals may help in competing with Japanese

Article Abstract:

Hercules Inc, of Wilmington, DE, an American chemical company, has made a laboratory discovery that promises to help the US in its competition with the Japanese. The discovery involves a new way to control liquid crystals in laptop-computer screens. A scientist working for Hercules cautions that practical applications are still far in the future. The discovery nevertheless offers hope that scientific efforts in the US and Europe will help Western nations overtake the Japanese, who have key patents and essential manufacturing skills in this area of electronics technology. Portable computers use thin, lightweight screens driven by liquid crystal display (LCD) technologies. US and European laptop computer vendors such as IBM and Italy's Ing C. Olivetti & Co previously have had to seek help from Japanese rivals to gain access to LCDs.

Plastics materials and resins, Gum and wood chemicals, Research, Hand-held computers, Handheld computers, Design and construction, Chemical industry, Liquid crystal displays, International competition (Economics), Lasers, Hercules Inc., HPC, Laptop computers, Portable computers, Laser, Laptop/Portable Computer, Japanese Competition, Scientific Research, LCD Display

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Public push

Article Abstract:

Similar views concerning effective technology policy are evolving into existence in the United States, Europe and Japan. Many such ideas, such as using government funding to encourage cooperation among competitors, were originally formulated by the Japanese in the 1970s and spread to Europe in the 1980s. Now, all three regions of the developed world are experimenting and are watching each other to see what sort of results are achieved. Efforts focus on collaborations among companies, generic research that supports broad areas of technology, encouragement of commercialization of research results, and attempts to strengthen scientific and technological infrastructures.

United States, Planning, Europe, High technology industry, Japan, High technology, Economic policy, Industrialized countries, Industrial policy, Industrial nations, Industry Analysis, Economics of Computing, Developed Countries, Government Funding, Government aid

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