Taiwan is to take a fifth of the world's LCD-TFT pie by the end of next year, according to a report by Acer Display Technology. The island has struggled with production of laptops and LCD monitors in the past due to a lack of local makers of LCD-TFT panels. But following the purchase of technology from Korea and Japan, the Taiwanese market is now set to expand. Six local Taiwanese companies, one of which is Acer, have finished building fabs this summer, and are increasing panel production. Most of the LCD panels made in Taiwan are destined to spend their lives in portable PCs. Their combined sales currently only account for three per cent of the world market. Acer also estimated that Taiwan would become the world's largest manufacturer of notebooks this year, supplying 46 per cent of the total market of 18 million units. ®