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BenQ aims for top three in LCD-TVs

"We expect sales of LCD-TVs in Taiwan will grow fast to 400,000 units next year. BenQ hope to get a 10-percent share."

Scott Huang, managing director of BenQ's local division

BenQ Corp (明基), a leading Taiwanese consumer electronics vendor, aims to grab a top three position in the nation's liquid-crystal-display (LCD) television market next year by expanding its product portfolio, a company executive said yesterday.

"We expect sales of LCD-TVs in Taiwan will grow fast to 400,000 units next year. BenQ hope to get a 10-percent share," said Scott Huang (黃思齊) a managing director of BenQ's local division.

In other words, BenQ aims to double its sales to around 40,000 units next year, from an estimate of 20,000 for this year, Huang said.

He said the expansion would help push higher BenQ's ranking to No. 3, behind Japanese brands Sony and Panasonic.

Huang made the remarks on the sidelines of the announcement that BenQ supplied the local bookstore chain Eslite Corp (誠品) with its LCD displays for public information.

TV sales along with projectors would make up a bigger, 25 percent share of BenQ's sales on the home market, compared to this year, Huang said.

BenQ also sells own-brand mobile phones in Taiwan, which will account for some 45 percent of its total sales next year, he added. The company also sells branded LCD monitors as well as laptop computers.

To achieve the goal of joining the top three LCD-TV brands, Huang said the company would roll out more models including new 22-inch, 32-inch, 37-inch and 42-inch LCD-TVs.

Now, BenQ has only two models.

BenQ also plans to introduce a new 32-inch LCD-TV with a built-in TV tuner in the second quarter of next year to comply with the government's new rule that TV sets bigger than 29-inches in size, including cathode-ray-tube (CRT) TVs, must be equipped with digital signal receivers.

The law will take effect in January of next year. The law is part of the government's greater plan to promote digital broadcasting.

Currently, most slim-screen TVs including plasma-display-panel (PDP) TVs are not equipped with digital TV tuners. Consumers have to connect their TV sets to a set-top box to switch analog signals to digital to get access to digital TV programs.

The new rule will increase costs for LCD-TV vendors as they will have to pay the value-added tax of 13-percent imposed on TVs, Huang said, adding that computer monitors are now exempted from the tax.

To get around the tax, almost all TV companies sell LCD displays and TV tuners separately, he said.

BenQ plans to hike prices for new models with built-in TV tuners, he said.

BenQ shares rose 0.79 percent to NT$31.75 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
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