Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp is cautious about the upcoming holiday season as jittery shoppers could become more careful about spending during the financial crisis, a company executive said in Taipei yesterday.
Sony, however, retained its goal of delivering 17 million liquid-crystal-display (LCD) TV sets this fiscal year, which began on April 1. That would represent around 60 percent growth from last year’s 10.6 million units.
“Growing uncertainty [about the financial crisis] makes people jittery. We will be cautious about market demand [in the traditionally busy season],” Yoshinari Sengoku, a general manager at Sony’s flat TV business division, told a press briefing on the sidelines of the launch of a new range of TVs.
PHOTO: CHEN MEI-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Sengoku believed LCD TV sales around the globe would continue to grow this year and next year.
“I am optimistic about LCD TV sales in the medium and long term,” Sengoku said. “I am confident that Sony will hit its shipment target for 2008.”
DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas-based researcher, also kept its forecast of 105 million LCD TV sales for this year unchanged. Next year, LCD TV sales may grow by 25 percent to 131 million sets, DisplaySearch data showed.
“There will be seasonal demand this year. We expect people will still buy TVs as first-tier brands are expected to cut prices sharply during the upcoming season,” David Hsieh (謝勤益), a vice president at DisplaySearch, said via telephone.
The price of a high-definition 40-inch LCD TV may fall US$200, or at least 20 percent, to between US$699 and US$799 per unit, from more than US$1,000 per unit now, Hsieh said.
“Growth is likely to be weaker than before, as demand in the US and Europe may weaken because of the financial crisis,” Hsieh said.
Commenting on Sony’s partnership with Taiwanese flat panel suppliers, Sengoku said it was Sony’s goal to maintain close partnerships with panel suppliers in the long term.
“AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) are good partners of Sony,” Sengoku said.
Next year, Sony plans to add a new joint venture with Sharp Co to its panel suppliers. Currently, the Japanese TV giant buys LCD panels mostly from S-LCD, a flat-panel venture with South Korean Samsung Electronics Co.
“That, to some extent, may have some [negative] impact on local panel makers next year,” Hsieh said.
Taiwanese panel makers supply between 30 percent and 40 percent of the LCD screens Sony uses for its slim-screen TVs, DisplaySearch figures showed.
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