Corning, a company at the cutting edge of materials for technology development, has announced a deal with Sharp to become the majority supplier of glass substrates for use in Sharp's Generation 8 liquid crystal display (LCD) television screens.

Sharp is expected to open a new Generation 8 factory later this year, producing LCD TV sets with screens of 40 inches or larger, as the market continues to expand. Globally, LCD sets made up 11 per cent of total TV set sales in 2006, but Corning predicts that the market will grow to almost 20 per cent in 2006.

Corning has announced that it will expand its manufacturing capacity significantly in order to stay ahead of demand in the LCD glass market, which is expected to develop by up to 50 per cent this year.

"We are closely monitoring consumer demand for LCD television, and we will pace out manufacturing expansions accordingly," commented James Clappin, president of Corning Display Technologies.

The company is to expand production of its EAGLE XG glass, which was launched in March, at factories in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, with commercial shipments of Generation 8 glass expected from the Japanese expansion in the third quarter of 2006.

Corning has succeeded in purifying EAGLE XG glass of all heavy metals and halides, gases harmful to the environment such as chlorine and bromine. The glass is the first substrate product to be free of these contaminants, giving exceptional clarity to high-definition TV.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd