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Chimei Targets 450,000 LCD TVs in 2008
2007/11/09
With increasing sales in the United States and mainland China, Taiwan`s Chi Mei Group expects to ship 450,000 LCD TVs in 2008, up 50% from this year.
 | | A high-end CHIMEI LCD TV. |
Ben Cheng, vice president at Nexgen Mediatech Inc., an LCD TV maker under the Chi Mei banner, recently reported that the "CHIMEI" brand LCD TV had received an order for about 50,000 units from American hotel chains. In mainland China, he added, CHIMEI LCD TVs will be marketed in high-end audio/video equipment stores next year.
Sales of CHIMEI LCD monitors are expected to grow by over 50% to about 1.5 million units next year, Cheng said, and total own-brand TV and monitor sales are expected to hit a record high of NT$15 billion (US$454.5 million at NT$33.8:US$1).
According to Cheng, who is responsible for the global marketing of CHIMEI-branded TVs and monitors, Nexgen will begin small-batch shipments of mainly 32- and 42-inch TVs to American hotel chains in the fourth quarter of this year. The shipments will expand to about 50,000 units in 2008.
Before the Chinese New Year sales peak, Cheng added, CHIMEI-branded LCD TVs (mostly 42- and 52-inch high-picture-quality models) will be displayed on the racks of high-end audio/video stores around mainland China. Sales of LCD TVs there are expected to reach 9 million units this year and to make a big leap in 2008 thanks to the Beijing Olympics fever, making China the world`s third-largest LCD TV market. In China, Cheng pointed out, the upper end of the LCD TV is big and filled with lucrative business opportunities.
Good Brand Image
In China, Cheng comments, CHIMEI-branded LCD TVs have already established a good quality image and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), a major supplier of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, is also well known for its high-quality TV panels. This name awareness is expected to make CHIMEI LCD TVs increasingly popular in China, where Cheng expects to sell about 50,000 units a year in the initial stage.
Taiwan and Europe have thus far been the major markets for CHIMEI-brand LCD TVs, Cheng pointed out. In the first nine months of this year Nexgen sold a total of about 70,000 LCD TVs on the island, including around 10,000 units in September, and sales in the fourth-quarter peak season are expected to be even better. Cheng estimated that annual sales in Taiwan will outstrip 100,000 units for the year, and reported that CHIMEI aims to win at least 30% of the market for 46- to 52-inch models.
Cheng predicted that global sales of CHIMEI LCD TVs will top 350,000 units this year, including about 200,000 in Europe. The group has terminated its LCD TV contract production business so as to concentrate all of its resources on own-brand products. In Europe, CHIMEI has rapidly become a second-tier LCD TV nameplate and the largest Taiwan LCD TV brand in the market there.
In regard to the monitor business, Cheng said that wide-format models currently account for over 90% of CHIMEI`s lineup and most of the company`s products are 19- and 22-inch high-end models that meet the requirements of game players.
Cheng said that the sales value of CHIMEI-branded LCD TVs and monitors is expected to reach NT$15 billion (US$454.5 million) in 2008, compared with about NT$10 billion (US$303.03 million) last year and NT$6 billion (US$181.82 million) in 2005.
Niche Market
Industry experts attribute the good sales achieved by CHIMEI-branded LCD TVs and monitors over the past two years to the strategy of focusing on niche markets. The recent success in winning orders from American hotel chains and high-end audio/video equipment outlets in mainland China is expected to help CHIMEI escape fierce price-cutting competitions in the mass-marketing channels.
Chi Mei Group chairman Hsu Wen-lung has long stressed that branding is the core of an enterprise`s sustainable operation. This led to the establishment of the CHIMEI brand for LCD TV and monitor products in 2006 and to the group`s gradual withdrawal from contract manufacturing.
CHIMEI chose as its first battlefield Taiwan, a market filled with numerous international brands and major contract manufacturers. This allowed the brand to consolidate its image through integrated marketing, superior services, and deep-rooted sales channels, which are also the best tools to use in developing the global market.
With the strong support from CMO, an affiliated firm and the second-largest supplier of large-sized TFT-LCD panels on the island, CHIMEI took the lead in introducing, in October, the first home-grown 52-inch high-end LCD TV model. This advanced product, which carries a price tag only about half that of imported equivalents, differentiates CHIMEI from its local competitors in the upper end of the market.
Cheng says that CHIMEI will continuously introduce high-end LCD TV products in 2008, including 42- and 32-inch models using 120Hz technology to eliminate motion blur.
The vice president said that the price-cutting competition in American and mainland Chinese hyper-markets and 3C (computer, communication, and consumer electronics) retail chains is too fierce for CHIMEI, and so the brand will continue to focus on own-brand marketing in niche markets.
Major Markets for CHIMEI-branded Display Products | Category | Major Markets | 2008 Goal | YoY Growth | LCD TVs | Taiwan, European Union, U.S., mainland China | 450,000 units | 50% | LCD Monitors | Taiwan, European Union, U.S., mainland China, Australia, Southeast Asia, Middle East | 1.5 million units | 50% | Source: Nexgen. |
(by Quincy Liang)
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