■ Panel Factories

Last July, I visited BOE Technology Group Co's G10.5 (Generation 10.5) LCD panel factory in Hefei, a city in the Chinese province of Anhui, located about 1,000 kilometers south of Beijing. Construction on this factory began in December 2015 with an investment of nearly 800 billion yen. It spans an area the size of 120 soccer fields, and already housed Nikon's large-scale lithographic equipment at the time of my visit. It was also directly connected to Corning Inc.'s glass factory. The manufacturing lines for the G10.5 factory became operational at the end of last year.

With Chairman Wang of BOE (third from left)

Sharp Corporation's LCD factory in Sakai within Osaka Prefecture, Japan, which became operational in 2009, is G10, optimized to efficiently manufacture 60- and 70-inch LCD panels. By contrast, G10.5 is optimized for 65- and 75-inch panel production using 2,940 x 3,370mm mother glass. In January of last year, I also had the chance to visit LG Display's Paju site in South Korea, located near the border with North Korea. Construction of a G10.5 production line was underway there as well, in addition to their existing G8.5 line. Considering that similar plans are in the works from both China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. as well, we can see that there will be a drastic supply increase in larger, 65- and 75-inch LCD panels in the near future.

What does this mass buildup of G10.5 lines imply for Sony's BRAVIA® TV business? Being in the TV hardware business, it is imperative that we stay aware of trends in the panel industry, given that they are both a primary component of TVs and support TV's important features. It is also important for Sony to be well regarded by our supply partners at panel manufacturing firms. In order to achieve it, strengthening our ability to sell large-screen TVs, i.e. 70 inches or above, is key.

■ The Evolution of TV Features

As we entered the 21st century, we saw a full-blown shift to TVs that used flat panels such as LCDs. Sony and Samsung's joint G7 line became operational in 2005. In 2007, Samsung expanded its market share through its lineup of LCD TVs with LED backlight. TV features only kept expanding from there, with 3D, higher frame rates, 4K, HDR, and so forth. That evolution continues today with new panel devices such as OLED and the move to high-resolution 8K.

■ Shifting Trends in TV Usage

While the features of our TVs have evolved, the changes to the way we use our TVs have possibly been even more drastic. We've long used them to receive broadcasts, play back recordings and discs, and render CG images in video games, but more recently, I feel that access to online network servers have greatly changed the ways we interact with TV. (On transitions in media: Sony Group Quarterly Meeting speech in February 2014 and November 2016)

In my previous blog, I spoke about audio devices and the internet. The picture below shows part of the remote control for our newest BRAVIA for the Japanese market. What are your thoughts when you see this?