Sony starts Bravia TV production in Slovakia

The factory in Nitra is manufacturing large-size, high-end LCD (liquid crystal display) sets and the start of operations there is a step towards a reorganization of Sony's TV manufacturing operations in Europe.

Sony already has two TV plants in Europe. One in nearby Trnava and one in Barcelona, Spain. During 2008 the TV production lines at Trnava will be relocated to Nitra to push annual production at Nitra to 3 million sets. Once that relocation is complete the Trnava plant will be used to produce TV tuners for the sets while TV production will continue at Nitra and Barcelona.

European consumers are fast adopting flat-panel televisions like those being produced at Nitra. During the second quarter of this year 97 percent of all TVs shipped on the continent were flat-panel sets, according to Display Search. That ranks Europe second to Japan, where 99 percent of TVs were flat panel, and ahead of third-ranked North America, where 88 percent of TVs shipped were flat panel.

Competing TV manufacturers are also building factories in Europe to handle production for the region. In July Toshiba Corp. began mass production at a new plant in Poland.

Other companies including Sharp Corp., LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. and IPS Alpha Technology Ltd. are also planning or building factories in Eastern Europe that will produce bare LCD or PDPs (plasma display panels) or other components for use in TV sets.