Viewsonic Cuts 20-inch Monitor Price by 25% in Taiwan

Taipei, July 31, 2006 (CENS)--Viewsonic recently announced a 25% cut on the retail price in Taiwan for its 20-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor model, the VG2021m, reaching only NT$8,990 (US$274 at US$1: NT$32.8), some NT$1,000 (US$30) higher than that for 19-inch models.

In April, Alan Chang, ViewSonic Asia Pacific's vice president of marketing & sales, pointed out that the price gap between 19- and 20-inch panels would narrow further due to panel suppliers' increasing new-generation capacities and high defect-free ratios, which drive panel prices down.

ViewSonic strategically adjusted down its 20-inch monitor price (from NT$11,900, or US$362) to grab more business opportunities and push 20-inch models into a market mainstay.

The larger-sized and wide-screen models have remained mainstays in the LCD monitor market, such as 17-inch model in 2005 to 19-inch models this year, driving manufacturers to continue to push 20- and 22-inch models. In Taiwan, over-20-inch (including) monitors accounted for about 10% of the total sales in the second quarter and the ratio is expected to grow to 20% to 30% in the second half.

Industry sources pointed out that over-20-inch monitors would become market mainstays thanks to the increasing multimedia applications.

Viewsonic claimed that it targets to win a 40% share of the domestic large-sized monitor market in the third quarter.