China’s major TV vendors, including Konka Group Co (康佳), TCL Corp and Haier Group (海爾), intend to purchase more flat panels from Taiwanese companies to cope with growing demand for liquid-crystal-display (LCD) TVs in China, the government-run Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said yesterday.
To secure sufficient panel supply, senior executives from eight Chinese TV makers were scheduled to meet Taiwanese LCD panel suppliers on June 1 in Taipei for a collective purchase of LCD panels, TAITRA said in a press release.
The visit will also be used to discuss potential future technological cooperation, the release said.
The comments came in response to a report in the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday that said the Chinese companies intended to place orders for lower-priced Taiwanese TV flat-panels next month.
In January, Taiwan’s two biggest flat-panel makers — AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) — said they had signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s major TV vendors, including TCL Corp, to supply panels in the long term after Beijing said it would encourage Chinese companies to buy US$2 billion in panels over the next four years.
Chinese TV makers hoped to clinch deals for long-term panel supply from local companies to cope with voracious demand for flat-panel TVs in China, TAITRA said.
LCD TV sales grew at a faster-than-expected pace to reach 5 million units in the first quarter of this year, TAITRA said, citing an unspecified survey.
Flat-panel TV sales could grow 30 percent year-on-year to 20 million units this year, helped by the Chinese government’s policy of subsidizing the purchase of flat-panel TVs in rural areas and growing replacement demand for traditional cathode-ray-tube TVs, a forecast said.
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