TVs to fuel growth of LCD industry in local market: expert

The strong sales of TFT-LCD (thin-film transistor-liquid-crystal display) TVs in the local market are set to propel growth in the LCD industry.

The capacity of LCDs used in TVs was only 16 percent last year, however, it is projected to soar over 60 percent in 2007, said Jonq-Min Liu, general director of Materials Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute.

LCDs will be widely used in TVs compared to smaller electronic gadgets such as mobile phones or notebooks.

LCD TVs, as such, will present tremendous opportunities and revenues to the vendors here, Liu said in the keynote speech at the International Display Manufacturing Conference and Exhibition 2005 (IDMC 2005) yesterday.

Citing figures from research companies, he said that LCDs contributed 92 percent to the whole flat-panel display (FPD) industry in Taiwan in 2003. FPDs also consist of other display technologies such as OLED (organic light-emitting display), plasma displays and micro displays.

He estimates last year's percentage to be similar to 2003 and the figure will continue to rise this year.

Compared to major FPD competitors Korea and Japan, whose LCDs contributed only 81 percent and 62 percent respectively in 2003, Taiwan is betting more on LCDs than other display technologies.

"Taiwan has always been closely following the mainstream technologies in the past. We have put a big bet on LCD technology this time, and I think we will win big in the future," Liu stated.

Currently, Korea poses the biggest threat to Taiwan in terms of FPD market.

According to Liu, LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics dominate the Korean market with clear research-and-development (R&D) as well as partnership strategies.

In contrast, there are more than seven panel makers in Taiwan, thus causing imbalance of resource sharing, he analyzed.

As such, he said, the establishment of related organizations such as Taiwan Flat Panel Display Materials and Devices Association, will build a platform for these vendors to share resources in R&D and collaborate in joint projects.

Also, the incorporation of new technologies such as nanotechnology in LCDs, is a potential means to lower the material costs to boost the market acceptance of LCD TVs, he said.

"It seems that there have been enhancements of the products recently and the prices have gradually come down. The industry will further take off if these momentums continue," he commented.

IDMC 2005, kicked off in the Taipei International Convention Center on Monday, will conclude on Thursday.

The four-day event aims to cover the current status of the design and applications of new TFT-LCD, OLED, novel displays production facilities, as well as the adoption of new manufacturing technologies.

Hosted by SID Taipei Chapter, SEMI and other professional organizations in Taiwan, IDMC 2005 is a venue for the international display communities to understand the latest technologies, researches and related activities happening in Taiwan and worldwide.

It is estimated that over 1,000 attendees will show up in the event, and 200 among them are international participants.

The 250 papers presented are mainly from the U.S., Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Microsoft to open branch in Kaohsiung by April

Microsoft is slated to open a branch in Kaohsiung by the end of April.
The software giant plans to invest around NT$5 million to NT$6 million for the infrastructure alone, informed Davis Tsai, senior director of business marketing organization of Microsoft Taiwan Corporation.

In the past, the company's staff had to fly down from Taipei to the south to serve its customers.

With the upcoming branch in Kaohsiung, which will have the space of around 80 pings, it aims to provide a "localized service" to the clients of southern Taiwan, Tsai told the China Post on the sidelines of its media luncheon yesterday.

It is looking to have four to five sales staff, and a team of technical support staff to offer before and after-sales services, he added.

"We hope to stimulate the sales revenues of the southern part with the establishment of the new office," he said, adding that its clients in the Tainan Science Park have long been demanding more local support.

This is one of the moves from Microsoft to penetrate the small business segment.

For its first half of 2005 financial year, which ended last December, the company achieved "double-digit" growth for the enterprise and medium-sized business segments, said Tsai, without giving out the exact figures.

He expects these segments will continue their growth in the second half of the year, with more momentum coming especially from the small business sector.

"Small-sized business didn't grow as much as the other two, but it recorded almost double-digit growth in the first six months," he revealed.

Banking on its potential, the company has set up a dedicated team this year to support its some 4,000 system builder channel partners island-wide.

It put in more manpower in the team to beef up the resources especially in sales and technical support.

According to its general manager Eunice Chiou, the satisfaction rate of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) on Microsoft services increased 68 percent in the first half of the year, whereas the dissastifaction percentage was down by 29 percent.

"We are happy with the performance of SMBs and there was tremendous growth specifically in the mid-sized companies," she added.

In view of the rising needs of Taiwanese channel partners in China, Microsoft will continue to put in extra efforts to cater to them this year.

Headquartered in Taiwan, these partners set up branches in China and therefore need real-time, comprehensive IT support for the operations in both places.

As such, a cross-border division was recently formed by the company. There is a team of managers and sales employees taking initiatives to visit and serve them in the mainland, she said.