Toray Group’s IT-related products segment covers a wide range of items, including optical films for flat panel displays and processed optical films, plasma display panel (PDP) paste materials, small and medium-sized liquid crystal color filters, circuit materials, semiconductor materials, and IT-related equipment. This business is relatively resistant to fluctuations in IT market owing to a well-balanced range of applications and products. Toray harnessed its PDP rear panel technologies in a joint venture company with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. to produce PDP televisions.

Annual demand for flat-panel display panels is forecasted to grow by approximately 30% on a display area basis, and steady expansion is also predicted for PCs, mobile phones, and digital home appliances. Under these circumstances, the Group plans to broaden existing businesses and open new ones, concentrating on display materials, electronic components, semiconductors, and circuit materials, by further reinforcing the partnerships it enjoys with its major customers.