Tsann Kuen moves into solar-powered appliances

Tsann Kuen Group (燦坤實業), the nation's largest home appliances and consumer electronics chain, said yesterday it was moving into production of solar-powered home appliances.

"These new home electronics will be able to run on solar power, which will be environmentally friendly," Tsann Kuen PR manager Miki Lai (賴季君) said.

Tsann Kuen, whose revenues come mostly from manufacturing home appliances for brand sellers, ventured into solar power research in the past year in a bid to identify higher value-added products, she said.

"Solar power has great potential and is still not commonly used in home appliances. We will have a shot," she said.

These new products could be put on the market within two years, mainly on a contract manufacturing basis for brand firms, Lai said, declining to discuss product details.

Tsann Kuen is setting up its second research center in Taiwan to develop solar products at a cost of more than NT$100 million (US$3 million), Lai said. The center in Tainan will span more than 3,500 ping (11,550m2) and include a store and a showroom, he said, adding that it would be operational in two years.

Tsann Kuen saw sales for the first four months rise 9.4 percent to NT$11.04 billion from the same period last year. Its shares closed up 1.4 percent to NT$29.75 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.

Meanwhile, industry watchers were upbeat about the business prospects of Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強國際), Asia's largest IT product distributor, driven by cross-strait demand.

In the first quarter, Synnex saw revenues from China grow 15 percent year-on-year, while operating profits grew 63 percent, helping to offset lower domestic profits.

"Broadened product lines in top-tier cities helped fuel momentum and profit margins in China," Vincent Chen (陳豊丰), an analyst at CLSA Ltd, said in a report on Tuesday.

These new products include notebooks from brands such as Asustek, Lenovo, Sony and Samsung, and liquid-crystal-display monitors from NEC, AOC and Philips, Chen said, maintaining a "buy" rating on Synnex with a target price of NT$53.1.

Another good sign was Synnex's readiness to roll out handsets for Nokia Corp, one of the leading handset vendors in China, starting in the third quarter, he said.

The company's sales for the first four months dropped 5.2 percent to NT$16.5 billion. Its shares closed up 3.3 percent to NT$43.80 on the local bourse yesterday.