Technology Aug. 10, 2008 - 05:20AM JST ( 0 )

OSAKA —

Sanyo Electric Co has established a foothold in Vietnam to produce optical pickups. Demand for the devices to read and write electronic data on optical discs is expected to grow in line with the Chinese market’s expansion and the spread of next-generation DVDs, Sanyo officials pointed out.

The Bac Giang Province-based optical pickup unit, tentatively called Sanyo-HG Device Vietnam Co, is capitalized at $10 million and fully owned by Shenzhen Sanyo Huaqiang Optical Technology Co, a Chinese subsidiary of Sanyo.

Sanyo-HG Device will start building a 33,000-square-meter manufacturing plant in September, aiming to launch operation in April next year. It projects sales of 300 million dollars in the year to March 2013.

JCN