On April 23, 2008, Merck, a pharmaceutical and chemical company based in Germany, announced net profits of €239.1 million in Q1′08 after posting a loss of €8.3 million (US$13.2 million) a year earlier. The Q1′07 loss was mostly due to high interest payments on debt and Serono acquisition-related write-downs. Growth was driven by all divisions [...]

According to Walter Zywottek, head of Merck’s chemicals business, Merck’s Japanese competitors have not made substantial enough investments to have a major impact on the company’s liquid crystal business. Zywottek also forecasted that LCs prices will stabilize as flat panel display TVs has largely shifted toward LCD technology instead of plasma.

Merck’s competitor in Japan is [...]

On February 15, 2008, Hitachi and Matsushita Electric Industrial announced an alliance reached on December 25, 2007 by Hitachi, Matsushita, and Canon. Under the terms of this agreement, Matsushita will acquire a 24.9% stake in Hitachi Displays, which is a wholly owned Hitachi subsidiary that makes small/medium LCD panels, from Hitachi by March 31, 2008. [...]

Hitachi LCD + LCD Projector Hybrid Prototype Display
Size: 47″
Contrast Ratio: 8,000,000:1
Projection Depth: 30cm (11.8″)
Pixel Format: 1920 x 1080 (VA-type LCD), 1280 x 720 (LCD rear projection)
Brightness: 700 cd/m2

This is probably the first display that combines a regular LCD display and LCD projection technology. That alone is very unique. On top of that Hitachi is claiming [...]