BenQ poised to rank among world's top-5 projector suppliers

Taipei, Dec. 24, 2003 (CENS)--BenQ Corp. expects to leap into the world top-five list of picture-projector suppliers next year from the current 6th spot with NT$10 billion (US$294 million at US$1:NT$34) of revenue from the sales, according to a senior company executive.

C.H. Chen, who is in charge of BenQ's digital-media business group, said BenQ will ship 130,000 projectors valued at NT$5 billion to NT$6 billion (US$147 million to US$176 million) by the end of this year, compared with total volume of two million projectors worldwide. His company has projected to ship 300,000 projectors next year, when the world's total volume is estimated at three million systems.

The company's monthly shipment in next quarter will soar to 60,000 projectors from this month's 20,000 systems.

Citing a study recently released by Japanese market-research organization Tendo, Chen pointed out that Hitachi, Epson and Sanyo have snatched up top, second, and third places, respectively, so far this year in the world picture-projector market.

Regarding the pricing trend, Chen's view is that prices of budget models have nearly hit the bottom, leaving them very limited room for further huge price drop, while middle-range types still have ample room for price decline. The pricing now, he said, can range from NT$30,000 to NT$250,000 (US$882 to US$7,352) a system, depending on models.

Chen is betting on the household market, predicting that sales of home theater systems and liquid-crystal display TVs will soar considerably next year during the Olympic football and the European National Cup football events. Projectors are integral part of home theater systems.

Chen's group counts on OEM-based projectors and own-branded wares for 50-50 of its picture-projector revenue.

Chen's group has projected 2004 revenue at NT$30 billion (US$882 million), with its LCD TV and Joybook notebook computer co-contributing NT$20 billion (US$588 million). The projected 2004 revenue is estimated to represent 15% of BenQ's total revenue, up from 10% in 2003.