Nikkei Market Access says production of 10-inch and larger TFT LCD modules for flat screen televisions will reach 810,000 units in 2001, four times last year’s level.

In 2002 the Japanese market research firm projects production will double again, to 1.6 million units. Demand so far is almost all in Japan. Continued strong growth in future years will depend on development of new products with advantages over conventional CRTs.

Japanese makers of both displays and consumer electronics hope the product may let them take advantage of their leading technology and brand differentiation to compete with low cost display makers in Korea and Taiwan.

Sharp introduced 13-inch, 15-inch, and 20-inch models earlier this year, the smallest aggressively priced at around $733. But the market will probably continue to be limited to Japan, since it will be hard to replace larger TV screens with LCDs, and the units may start to eat into the market for PC monitors with TV tuners. So Nikkei Market Access sees market growth slowing, to reach 4.25 million units in 2005.–Nikkei Microdevices