Sony will double its annual output of its Bravia line of LCD HD sets in its current Slovakian plant—growing capacity from 2 million sets in fiscal year 2007 to 4 million units by the end of 2008. In doing so, Sony said, its Slovak factory soon will become its largest LCD producer of HD sets in the world.
To enable the expansion, Sony said it is on target to increase the number of employees by about 50 percent—from 2,300 to 3,500—by the end of this calendar year.
Sony began making Bravia-brand LCD TV panels at a plant in Trnava, Slovakia, more than two years ago. With no possibility for further expansion upon quickly reaching full capacity output, Sony then opened another Slovakian facility, the Nitra Technology Center in Nitra, situated about 25 miles from Trnava, and thus relocated its central LCD production function in response to what it said was a growing demand for liquid crystal sets in Europe. The Nitra plant began making Sony’s Bravia panels last August, in tandem with a Sony facility in Barcelona, Spain.
