LG Electronics Inc, the world’s No. 2 television maker, yesterday raised its LCD TV sales target for this year for Taiwan on the expectation that it would sell more 3D LCD TVs in this market.
LG Electronics Taiwan president Choi Bo-hwan said the company aimed to seize a 25 percent share of Taiwan’s LCD TV market this year, higher than the previous 20 percent target the company set earlier this year. The South Korean firm secured an approximate 15 percent share last year by shipments.
To reach the new goal, LG needs to sell at least 250,000 LCD TV units in Taiwan this year, as the overall LCD TV shipments are expected to grow by 10 percent this year from 1 million units last year based on LG’s projections.
About 20 percent of LG’s sales in Taiwan this year would be LCD TVs outfitted with 3D displays, Choi said.
“The Taiwanese market is similar to the South Korean market, as people [in both countries] tend to buy high-technology products,” Choi said. “And LG beat Samsung by taking a 67 percent share of South Korea’s 3D TV market after launching the new-generation 3D TVs earlier this year.”
Choi said the company would benefit from the uptake of 3D TVs this year. In South Korea, the penetration rate of 3D TVs has risen to 25 percent, compared with about 13 percent last year.
A significant drop in price of 3D glasses would be a key factor behind the takeoff of 3D TVs, Choi said.
The price of a pair of LG 3D glasses fell to just one-10th of last year’s price and the weight has been reduced to 16g per pair, he said, adding that no battery recharging would be needed as the company’s new technology allowed the glasses to operate without power consumption.
With an aggressive global sales target, LG was likely to increase purchases of TV panels, such as 65-inch panels — which LG Display does not produce — from Taiwanese LCD panel maker AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), a person familiar with the matter said.
“The procurement will be larger than three years ago, when LG bought a total of US$1 billion in LCD panels from Taiwanese firms,” said the source, who declined to be named.
Samsung, which also has ambitions in the 3D TV market, said last month it expected 30 or 40 percent of its LCD TVs sold this year would be 3D TVs.
However, Maxwell Chang (張乘維), an analyst with Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業研究所), was more conservative, citing high price tags as a potential obstacle for those TV brands to hit their business targets.
Chang expects a 10 percent penetration rate in Taiwan to be the best-case scenario. Globally, he projected about 20 percent of a total 215 million LCD TVs would be 3D TVs this year.
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