US tech giant Qualcomm to build new Taiwan plant

TAIPEI: US technology giant Qualcomm plans to spend one billion US dollars to build a plant in Taiwan to produce new, energy-efficient displays used in tablet devices and e-books, an official said Tuesday.

The plant, located in the town of Lungtan in northern Taiwan, is scheduled to start operations in 2012 and will focus on so-called "Mirasol" technology, which consumes less power than traditional displays, the official told.

"The plant is crucial as it will introduce to Taiwan the know-how for manufacturing next-generation flat-screens," said the official, with the economics ministry's Department of Investment Services.

Panels using this type of technology are used in a range of electronic products including Apple's popular iPad to hand-held games consoles.

Taiwan's liquid crystal display industry is a world leader, with production valued at a total of 1.5 trillion Taiwan dollars (50 billion US) last year, figures compiled by the ministry showed.