Canon Sees Flat Panel Upturn

Japan-based Canon Inc., is to start selling flat-panel tv's using technology developed with Toshiba Corp., as early as 2004. This move will see the company directly challenging rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. for a share of what has become a US$21.5M market. According to the firm's CE, the company is intending to develop its own display technology in order to position itself amongst the industry's front runners. It is a new entrant in the flat-panel market, where Samsung, Sharp Corp, and Taiwanese companies such as AU Optronics Co., have been investing billions of dollars in new plants for some time.