Sharp Corporation has completed its Kameyama Plant in Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture, and will begin start-to-finish production of large-screen LCD TVs this January.

Demand for large-screen LCD TVs has been growing with a momentum exceeding initial expectations, leading to a tight supply situation for LCD panels for TVs. In this light, in August of this year, Sharp will install a second production line for large-format LCDs within the Kameyama Plant to further expand production capacity, roughly doubling our substrate input capacity compared to when the plant initially comes on-line in January 2004. This enhanced capacity will enable Sharp to construct a stable supply framework to meet burgeoning demand for LCD panels for TVs.

The Kameyama Plant is a vertically integrated facility designed to streamline and enhance material flow, production and inspection/testing processes, and will bring together in a single operation Sharp's proprietary LCD and video imaging technologies developed over long years of experience in these fields. The goal is to boost production efficiency, and further enhance the upward spiral effect resulting from the synergistic interplay of core devices and end-user products.

Overview of Kameyama Plant

• Total investment: Approx. 100 billion yen (including land, buildings, production equipment for first and second production lines)

• Production capacity: 100,000 units per month

• Products: Large-screen LCD TVs (25 inches and larger)

• Location: 464 Kougawa, Shiraki-cho, Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture

• Site area: Approx. 330,000 m2

• Total floor area: Approx. 243,800 m2

• Employees & staff: Approx. 1,000 (as of January 2004)