BenQ promotes new large-size flat-panel televisions

BenQ Corp (明基), one of the nation's major consumer electronics makers, yesterday unveiled its latest 37-inch and 46-inch liquid-crystal-display (LCD) televisions, vowing to secure a 15 percent share of the large-size flat-panel TV market in Taiwan a year from now.

The company also expects that the TVs will soon replace plasma-display-panel (PDP) TVs, which currently dominate the large-sized TV market.

"With improved brightness, a longer life, [and] radiation-free, power-saving and other advantages, LCD TVs are very likely to replace PDP TVs in the near future," Peter Chen (陳其宏), general manager of BenQ's digital media department, told reporters yesterday.

Consumers in Taiwan buy around 1 million new TVs each year, with models measuring 37 inches or more accounting for 10 percent of sales, Chen said.

But PDP TVs' leadership position will not last long, as larger LCD TVs gradually hit the market, he added.

Michael Lin (林世華), a senior marketing manager at BenQ, said domestic sales for TVs larger than 37 inches are at about 110,000 units per year, with PDP TVs accounting for 60,000 units and cathode-ray-tube, or traditional TVs, accounting for 50,000 units. In the next few years, LCD TVs may take about half of the market, Lin said.

The suggested prices for the two new models are NT$72,900 (US$2,283) for the 37-inch model and NT$199,000 for the 46-inch model. But to help the new TVs -- especially the 37-inch version -- become a mainstream product, smaller models may retail for about NT$69,000, Chen said.

The strategy seems to have worked, as retailers have ordered the first 500 units of the 37-inch model, Lin said.

But the price for its current 32-inch LCD TV, which was NT$54,900 on retailer Tsann Kuen's (燦坤) Web site, will remain at the current level due to the strong demand, Lin said.

For the first half of the year, BenQ ranked No. 1 for sales of 32-inch LCD TVs in Taiwan, selling about 42,000 units, or a 15 percent market share, he said.