Proton wins Bosch's 7-inch in-car monitor order

Taipei, Aug. 5, 2005 (CENS)--Taiwan's Proton Electronic Co. has won an order from Bosch, one of the world's largest auto-parts brands, for 7-inch in-car liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs and multimedia systems, according to company sources.

Proton added that it has made the first-batch delivery of 2,000 sets of in-car multimedia entertainment systems to Bosch. It also expects to jointly tap the huge and potential mainland China market with Bosch in the future.

Proton chairman Hong Ming-chang said that his company won Bosch's order after over one year of efforts in product development and passing related certification processes. Hong disclosed that his company is studying the feasibility of setting up a plant in mainland China to meet the strong demand across the Taiwan Strait.

Proton is a brand home-appliance maker in Taiwan with major products including LCD and cathode-ray tube (CRT) TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators, in-car multimedia products etc. The company scored revenue of about NT$1.6 billion (US$50 million at US$1: NT$32) last year, and the figure is expected to grow to outstrip NT$3 billon (US$93.75 million) this year. Proton plans to go public in 2007, the chairman added.

All suppliers have to first pass stringent certification processes before delivering their products to big auto-parts brands such as Bosh. Accordingly, Hong is very proud of his company's successful business with Bosch, saying that Bosch's order will greatly help boost Proton's future business.

Proton recently launched a portable 10.2-inch in-car monitor model and is negotiating with local China Motor Corp. (in partnership with Mitsubishi of Japan), Yulon Motor Co. (Nissan) and Ford Lio Ho (Ford) on optional-equipment sales. According to Proton's estimate, the domestic market for such product is about 100,000 units per year.

Huang analyzed that the annual new-car sales volume in Taiwan is about 400,000 to 500,000 units, with about 20% of which expected to be equipped with the LCD monitors and integrated with increasingly popular in-car multimedia and global positioning system (GPS) navigation systems.