Jan. 9, 2008 - Matsushita Electric Industrial (aka Panasonic) says it will invest about ¥95B (US ~$869M) to boost capacity for chips used in digital home electronics with a new plant in the central Japanese city of Tonami, Toyama Prefecture, according to local reports.

Construction would begin by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2008) at the earliest. Most of the output would be for internal use in devices such as digital cameras, flat-panel televisions, and DVD recorders. Internal sales to group firms accounted for about 53% of Matsushita's ¥438.2B ($4.0B) in FY06 revenues, according to the Nikkei daily.

The regional Jiji newswire notes that the capital spending follows a previously-announced ¥145B ($1.33B) investment plan to expand the Tonami facility and another plant in Toyama Prefecture.

Meanwhile, the company is also ramping investments in TV panels, spending about ¥280B ($2.56B) for a new plasma-panel factory in Hyogo Prefecture, and ¥300B ($2.74B) for an expected LCD panel plant JV with Hitachi and Canon, the Nikkei notes.