Taiwan market: Top-10 vendors see January-February LCD TV sales fall short of target

The top-10 vendors of LCD TVs in the Taiwan market sold 225,600 units during January-February 2010, 9.8% short of the expected total sales volume of 250,000 units, according to sources in the local retail channel.

The LCD TVs for January-February indicated that demand in the Taiwan market did not pick up as strongly as expected, despite pricing campaigns by vendors.

Tatung reduced the price of its full HD 42-inch model to NT$24,900 (US$786.34), prompting others to launch 42-inch model at even lower prices, the sources indicated.

Domestic brand Chimei was the top vendor with sales of 36,600 LCD TVs for January-February, the sources said.

The top-10 vendors in Taiwan shipped 128,000 units in January, with Sony leading with 22,000 units, followed by Chimei in second place with 21,000 units. LG Electronics was third with 16,000 units, while Teco came in fourth with 13,000 units. BenQ and Panasonic shipped 12,9,000 and 12,700 units to become number 5 and 6, respectivley. Vizio entered the top-10 ranking with 4,200 units, the sources noted.

The sources explained that Sony ranked first in January due to its pricing campaign. The price of Sony's 40-inch model dropped to NT$29,900 from NT$37,900, and the price for 32-inch models decreased 15%.

In February the top-10 vendors in Taiwan shipped about 97,600 units. There were fewer working days in the month, and the market was faced with increasing inventory and weaker-than-expected demand, the sources added.

Chimei ranked first in February with 15,600 units in shipments and BenQ came in second with 15,000 units. Third-place Teco shipped 13,000 units, followed by Tatung with 11,000 units, Panasonic with 10,800 units and LG with 1,500 units. Vizio dropped out of the top-10 list in February.

According to Digitimes Research, first-tier LCD TV vendors were dropping prices to boost sales in both Taiwan and China markets during January-February. LCD TV sales during January-February in China totaled 6.6 million units, Digitimes Research noted.

Top-10 LCD TV vendors in Taiwan market, January-February 2010 (k units)
	January		February
Rank	Company	Shipments	Company	Shipments
1	Sony	22	Chimei	15.6
2	Chimei	21	BenQ	15
3	LG Electronics	16	Teco	13
4	Teco	13	Tatung	11
5	BenQ	12.9	Panasonic	10.8
6	Panasonic	12.7	LG Electronics	10.5
7	Sampo	11.2	Sampo	9.1
8	Tatung	10.6	Sony	4.5
9	Zinwell	4.4	Sanyo	4.2
10	Vizio	4.2	ViewSonic	3.9