TAIPEI, Taiwan – April 30, 2002 – Leading Taiwanese display producer Toppoly Optoelectronics Corporation has chosen technology from Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, to provide the network infrastructure for one of the world's largest thin film transistor (TFT) LCD fabrication facilities at Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park near Taipei.
The new facility, which is being implemented in two phases, will produce a wide range of next-generation low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) displays. Phase one of the plant is currently undergoing pilot testing with first samples expected in July, while its phase two is slated to commence operation in early 2003.
Cisco, through its system integration partner, will supply more than US$1.5 million worth of advanced communications equipment for the plant including a Gigabit Ethernet backbone which will run the length of the new facility and link both manufacturing and office operations.
The network will comprise more than fifty Cisco Catalyst 3548 switches, four high-end Cisco Catalyst 6509 switches and six Cisco 3600 series routers which together will manage and control dataflows to more than 1,500 nodes throughout the facility. Cisco is also providing the technology which is helping Toppoly trial an IEEE 802.11b wireless network at the plant as well as voice over IP (VoIP) telephony applications.
"Toppoly aims to be the world's leading supplier of LTPS displays," said Archin Chen, Associate Vice President, Strategy Planning and Information Technology Group, Toppoly Corp. "Volume production at this new facility will introduce a variety of high resolution, brighter and lightweight displays with faster response time, helping propel the new technology into a broad array of system products and applications."
According to DisplaySearch, a US-based market research firm, Taiwan's share of the global TFT LCD market is expected to rise from 11 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2002. The company said Taiwan's TFT LCD suppliers are well-positioned to benefit from the 39 percent growth projected for the global market in 2002, boosting the market size to US$22 billion.
Similarly, IDC expects that LCD sales for Asia Pacific will grow by 78 percent for 2002.
"Our aim is to both drive and meet market demand and take full advantage of the booming LCD market," said Toppoly's Chen. "The communications infrastructure forms a critical element of our new production facility and will contribute significantly to our success and future expansion."
"Cisco's globally-renowned reputation and end-to-end solution gives us the level of confidence that is necessary for us to fully concentrate on our manufacturing business," he said.
The new network incorporates CiscoWorks 2000, a family of management products that combines the best of enterprise router and switch management functionality with easy-to-access deployment of web-based technologies. With Cisco Call Manager and Cisco IP Phones as well as Cisco Access Point and wireless card implemented on a trial basis, Toppoly is also set to benefit from converged networking technologies, paving the way for future applications.
"The continuous growth of the LCD market presents a huge opportunity for Toppoly," said Larry Sun, Country Manager of Cisco Systems Taiwan. "By offering cutting-edge networking technologies such as Gigabit Ethernet, IP Telephony and Wireless LANs, Cisco is pleased to play its part in helping Toppoly to quickly gain a share of this fast growing market."
Toppoly's Chen added that LTPS is an increasingly important technology and will eventually replace older amorphous TFT-LCD displays which are commonly used in notebooks and computer monitors today. "LTPS delivers higher quality colour and lower power consumption, making it ideal for the latest mobile products such as third generation mobile phones, PDAs, digital cameras and projector displays," he said.
A comparatively new company, Toppoly is backed by some of Taiwan's most powerful technology corporations including the Uni-President Group, Teco and Campal Computers, representing some of the world's leading notebook makers.
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