Mio Technology Ltd (宇達電通), one of the world's top three portable navigation device (PND) suppliers, yesterday said it has added Best Buy Co to its sales channel list, paving the way for the company's expansion into the US market.
"Our products have made their way into Best Buy [stores] starting this quarter," company president Samuel Wang said.
The addition of Best Buy will complement the maker's first US sales channel, Circuit City Stores Inc, making Mio products more accessible to consumers there, Wang told reporters at the Computex trade fair yesterday, where the company is holding its largest exhibition to date.
Mio Technology may add more major US sales channels, including Costco Wholesale Group and Wal-Mart Stores Inc, in the second half of the year, Wang said.
Mio was the fourth-largest brand in the US' PND market with an 8 percent share in the first quarter of the year, trailing behind Garmin International Inc's 50 percent, TomTom NV's 22 percent and Magellan Navigation Inc's 12 percent, Wang said, citing figures from Canalys, a market research company.
Mio's share of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market, the world's largest PND market, is more impressive. The company ranked No. 2 in the first quarter with a 20 percent share, after acquiring the US-based Navman brand in March.
TomTom was the top brand with a 36 percent share of the EMEA market, with Garmin ranking third at 14 percent, Wang said.
The company is also gearing up to strengthen its foothold in China.
Although the Chinese market is still small, with sales expected to reach only 800,000 units this year -- lower than the 2 million units expected to be sold in Spain, for instance -- Mio Technology is optimistic about opportunities across the Strait. The company sells about 20,000 units a month in China, translating to a market share of about 30 percent by year's end, he said.
"We are working with Chinese carmakers to bundle our products. The outcome has been good so far," he said.
Meanwhile, Billy Ho (
"This is a big step considering [Mio] just moved into the field in 2003," he said.
He said that handheld products, including PNDs, will account for 40 percent of MiTAC's total revenues this year, up from last year's 30 percent.
Sales from IT products -- which include servers, storage devices and personal computers -- will drop to 60 percent from last year's 70 percent, Ho said.
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