Thirty-two inch models are expected to be the most popular for liquid-crystal-display (LCD) televisions this year, fueled by attractive pricing and their suitability for living rooms, analysts and vendors said yesterday.
"This is the year for 32-inch LCD-TVs, as they are an ideal fit in living rooms to replace bulky traditional cathode-ray-tube TVs," said Lee Kuo-ting (
Last year, flat-panel models measuring 30 inches or smaller, including 26-inch models, took center stage in the local market as consumers purchased TVs for their bedrooms or studies, he added.
Sampo Corp (
However, Lee said that consumers who expect steep price declines for 32-inch models this year will be disappointed.
"Since prices of 32-inch panels were stable in the second half of last year, there will only be marginal price declines this year," he said.
Currently, 32-inch LCD-TVs are sold for between NT$30,000 and NT$40,000 (US$913 to US$1,218) for local brands, and around NT$60,000 for imported brands.
According to Lee, 36- and 40-inch models will become the mainstream next year, but it will depend on the panel production capacity of South Korean and Japanese suppliers.
Eying the trend, the Teco Group will also bank on its LCD-TV lineup to grab a larger market share this year.
"Though 32-inch will take much of the market share this year, growth of larger-sized screens such as 37 or 40 inches will gradually surpass 32 inches to become the mainstream in the future," said Eugene Huang (
Teco is poised to unveil an upgraded 40-inch model this month, which will be priced at around NT$70,000.
Huang made the remarks at a press conference yesterday announcing Teco's participation in this year's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where it will talk to potential partners for original design manufacturing (ODM).
Industry sources said that the company fell far short of its target of LCD-TV shipments of 200,000 units last year. Refusing to disclose the exact volume, Huang said that Teco failed to meet its target as a result of the weaker performance of smaller TVs.
"However, we expect the volume to double this year, with a better sales performance than last year's NT$2.7 billion," he said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure