LG. Philips closes UK CRT plant

摘要

LG. Philips-Displays, the world's leading producer of cathode ray tubes (CRT) for televisions and computer monitors, is to close its CRT plant in Newport, Wales, because of falling prices and increased competition from other types of displays, eg. flat panel displays (FPDs) such as plasma and liquid crystal display (LCD) screens. Barium and strontium carbonate, for which CRT glass is a major market, are either not consumed, or used in only small quantities, in FPDs. Last month, IM reported on the closure of a major US CRT glass facility, the Corning Asahi Video Products Co.'s State College, Pennsylvania operation (see IM June '03, p.18). Corning Asahi cited the explosive growth of imports of finished TV sets from Asia to the west as a major reason for the closure, as well as the cannibalization of the market by other technologies.