Both projectors and inkjet printers are core, high-potential markets for Epson. The projector market in particular has been growing as a result of increased applications in enterprise and education, and expanding demand in emerging economies. Taking advantage of the key high-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD panels that it manufactures in-house, Epson is keen to boost projector sales by strengthening its lineup of models for use in educational institutions and offices worldwide, and of high-brightness units in the 5,000-lumen and above class. Epson is also expecting to see growth in inkjet printers for enterprise applications and emerging economies.
Epson anticipates building up the plant to an annual projector production capacity of one million units and doubling the present annual inkjet printer capacity to approximately six million units. Total investment in this project will come to approximately US$110 million by the end of FY2012, and the number of employees will be increased from the present 2,300 to approximately 6,000 in the same period.