Banking on the iPod fever, ViewSonic International Corp yesterday announced the debut of a new series of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors which sport a docking station to support the popular digital music players.
"With the new monitors, you'll no longer see cords dangling out of your computer. Just plug your iPod into the base and you are connected," Alan Chang (
The company said that its ViewDock series are the first monitors to support iPods, which currently top the MP3 players' selling lists in countries such as the US and Taiwan.
PHOTO: CHO YI-CHUN, TAIPEI TIMES
The docking station would mean easy, direct photo and video viewing, as well as listening to songs stored in iPods. The ViewDock has a sound system with stereo speakers, four universal serial bus 2.0 ports, an eight-in-one card reader and a microphone.
It comes in two sizes: the 19-inch VX1945wm, which sells for NT$9,988 (US$303), and the 22-inch VX2245wm, which goes for NT$15,988.
The company opted for larger-sized panels because of the brisk demand for big-screen models as users want to maximize their multimedia experience, Chang said, adding that it expects the trend to continue.
He expects the domestic market, where users are fast adopting bigger displays and wide screens, to account for half of the company's forecast sales of 20,000 units of ViewDock per month in the Asia-Pacific region.
ViewSonic is the nation's No. 1 LCD monitor vendor, followed by other top sellers such as Chi Mei Corp (
The company continued to lead the market in the last quarter with sales of 134,089 monitors, up 20 percent from the second quarter, according to its preliminary statistics.
Separately, the local office of Apple Computer Inc announced on Monday that its latest iPod shuffles have hit local stores.
The 1GB model, which can store up to 240 songs, retails at NT$2,900.
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