Sharp has revealed that a new, low power, flat-panel display will go into production early next year.

The screen will be based on continuous grain silicon technology that Sharp developed with Semiconductor Energy Laboratory three years ago. Sharp says that this will also lower production costs.

It said it had to shift away from "commodity" flat panels used in PCs because more competition in the market has driven prices down. Instead it will focus on small screens for consumer electronics and large displays for wall-mounted televisions.

It said that it expects sales of the new liquid crystal displays to reach $2.6 billion by 2005.

The company said it would invest $1.49 billion in its production facilities in the year to March 31 and has budgeted a similar amount for the next year. ®