BenQ unveils movie plans

BenQ Corp (明基電通), the nation's largest mobile handset maker, announced yesterday that it is investing NT$170 million in a Hollywood-style film-making start-up as part of its efforts to enhance the image of its own-brand products.

With such an investment, BenQ is expected to hold an 80.95 percent stake in the Double Edge Entertainment Co (得藝國際媒體), according to the Taiwanese company. The firm also produces other consumer electronics goods, such as projectors, MP3 players and liquid-crystal-display monitors.

"We believe the high quality digital content [by Double Edge] will help enhance the value of our branded consumer electronics," BenQ chairman Lee Kuan-yao (李焜耀) said at a press conference.

BenQ plans to incorporate films made by Double Edge Entertainment into its brand-name digital multifunctional gadgets, Lee said.

When asked how soon Double Edge Entertainment will start to contribute to BenQ, as film-making is commonly seen as a money-losing business, Lee answered that he did not expect a quick return from this long-term investment.

Double Edge Entertainment chairman Bobby Sheng (盛保熙) said the company plans to spend NT$1.7 billion to make 10 films, mostly Hollywood-style movies, in the next five years. The company's first movie is scheduled to hit local cinemas by the end of 2005, Sheng said at a launch ceremony at the company's Taipei headquarters yesterday.

With slow demand for LCD monitors in the second quarter, BenQ posted net income of NT$2.97 billion (US$87.2 million), or NT$1.28 per share, in the quarter, 3 percent down from NT$3.07 billion, or NT$1.32 per share, in the first quarter.

Net sales slightly decreased to NT$42.06 billion from NT$42.22 billion over the same time, and gross margin dropped to 11.4 percent from 12.7 percent, the company said last month.

Double Edge Entertainment has also secured funds from Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), boosting its capital to NT$210 million. Sheng said the company plans to double its capital to NT$400 million by the end of the year. Double Edge Entertainment relied on making special effects for movies such as Batman 2 and Cast Away to make profits in the past two years.