As reported briefly (CI Nos 1,802; 1,803), San Jose, California-based Applied Materials Inc has signed joint development agreements with Toshiba Corp and Sharp Corp to work on the equipment needed to build flat-panel liquid crystal displays for notebook computers and small screen televisions. Applied says it will develop the production systems in the areas of chemical vapour deposition, plasma etching and physical vapour deposition. The first shipments are due towards the back end of next year. To manage the new venture, Applied says it will form a separate subsidiary in Japan with Dr Dan Maydan, executive vice-president of Applied Materials, and Tetsuo Iwasaki, chairman of Applied Materials Japan. Applied says the thin-film transistor display market is worth $350m this year, forecast to grow to $3,100m by 1995. The market for front-end TFT, meanwhile, is estimated at $450m this year, and should also grow rapidly to support potential demand for the displays themselves.
