To take advantage of China's potentially massive market for digital television sets, which has been bolstered by the nation's burgeoning digital television industry, Taiwanese companies should aggressively promote their wares with an eye on future business expansion, industry insiders said at a seminar on digital television industry in Taipei yesterday.
"China is determined to develop its digital television industry by 2008, when Beijing is scheduled to host the Olympic Games," said Allen Cheng (
Taiwanese digital television makers should seize the opportunity to take advantage of the market, either under their own brand or by means of contract manufacturing to pave the way for future business expansion, Cheng said.
China started trial broadcasts of digital television programs in 2002 in several first-tier cities like Shanghai and Beijing. The number of digital TV subscribers stood at 168,000 families last year, an increase of 101,000 families compared with 2002, according to figures provided by the center.
The figure is expected to jump to 1.22 million households this year and rise to 30 million families by the time the Olympic Games are held, according to the center's projections.
Increased availability of digital TV content should push forward China's market demands for digital television sets, including rear projection TV, liquid-crystal display (LCD) TV and plasma-display panel (PDP) TV, which are well suited to the high quality of digital broadcasts, Cheng said.
Market demand for digital television sets are expected to reach 6.49 million units this year, which is worth 31.44 billion yuan (US$3.8 million), up from 3.17 million units and 16.18 billion yuan last year, according to the center.
These figures could hit 19.8 million units and 77.42 billion yuan in 2008, according to the center.
Taiwanese digital TV makers have an edge over international competitors, since local producers have the advantage of controlling key components like LCD panel factories, strong information technology capabilities and an original-equipment-manufacturing (OEM) model, as well as sharing a similar cultural background with China, said Peter Chen (
Earlier this month Teco Electric and Machinery Co (東元電機) announced that it was in discussions with Konka Group Co Ltd (康佳) to supply flat-panel televisions to China's third-largest consumer electronics vendor.
Their collaboration prompted an alliance between TCL Corp, Konka's larger Chinese rival, and Sampo Corp (
However, Taiwanese companies may find it difficult to sell digital TVs bearing their own names, due to weaker branding than their international rivals, as well as a lack of after-sales service outlets and management experience of local sales channels, Chen said.
To promote own-brand business, local companies will have to establish manufacturing bases in China to obtain domestic selling licenses and bypass the tariff burden, Chen said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
RSS