AU Optronics is to start production at its second 8.5G plant in the second half of 2010. The outfit is expecting demand growth for large-size LCD panels to grow like topsy next year.

Company president and CEO, LJ Chen told DigiTimes that his outfit is working out details for the second 8.5G fab in Houli, central Taiwan. The cunning plan is to increase its capacity in the fourth quarter of 2009, ramping its monthly 7.5G capacity to 100,000 substrates, and 8.5G capacity to 40,000 substrates by the end of 2009.

Chen has been consulting his iChing and predicts that global TFT-LCD panel area shipments will increase by 17-18 per cent next year. This means that his company will increase its total capacity to match it. The company also thinks that the launch of Windows 7 will generate replacement demand for notebooks, and the company expects notebook and netbook shipments to reach 160 million and under 40 million units in 2010 worldwide.

Global monitor shipments are estimated to be about 170-180 million units in 2010. The company has consulted the runes and is fairly sure that all-in-one PC shipments are estimated to reach 10 million units worldwide next year.