(Yicai Global) Sept. 30 -- TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology, the panel-making unit of TCL Technology Group, put its new production line for high-end liquid crystal displays into operation in Guangzhou yesterday.

The start of the Generation-8.6 LCD production line, which has cost CNY35 billion (USD4.9 billion), will bring new growth points for parent company TCL Technology, the Shenzhen-based display maker said.

The new production line can roll off 180,000 to 220,000 base panels a month at full capacity, with annual output valued at CNY30 billion, Yicai Global learned at the commissioning ceremony. It is expected to benefit TCL Technology to the tune of CNY350 million (USD49.4 million) a year.

This year and next, the line will turn out 50-inch ultra-high-definition television screens, 27-inch display panels, 14-inch laptop panels, and six-to-10-inch cellphone and tablet screens.

When at full capacity, it will focus on information technology products and is expected to account for about 15 percent of global IT panel capacity, a senior analyst told Yicai Global, adding that such panels are expected to be TCL Technology’s main growth point over the next two years.

The production line’s start coincides with a turning point in the recovery of the panel industry. After more than a year of falling price globally, major manufacturers cut production and destocked in this quarter, market consultancy Sigmaintell said in a recent report. The prices of all panel sizes are expected to gradually stop falling and stabilize in in the fourth quarter, it added.

Huizhou-based TCL Technology is China’s second-largest LCD panel maker after Boe Technology. Affected by falling product prices, TCL Technology’s net profit plunged 90 percent from a year earlier to CNY663.5 million in the first half, though revenue rose 13.6 percent to CNY84.6 billion.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Peter Thomas