Taipei, July 13, 2007 (CENS)--Thanks to booming sales of "Vizio" own-brand TFT-LCD (thin film transistor-liquid crystal display) TVs in North America, AmTran Technology Co. saw shipments of the products hit a historic high in the first half of this year.

AmTran said it shipped 990,000 units of flat-screen TVs to score NT$26.23 billion (US$799.69 million at US$1:NT$32.8) in sales in the first half of this year, double that registered in the year earlier.

The company predicted it would be able to achieve shipments of 2.6 million units of flat-screen TVs with overall sales targeted at NT$50 billion this year.

AmTran noted it saw steady growth in shipment of flat-screen TVs since the beginning of this year because of its successful deployment of additional marketing channels for the "Vizio"-brand TFT-LCD TVs in the North American market.

Based on internal audited financial statement, the company registered NT$5.608 billion (US$170.97 million) in sales in June alone, hitting a historic monthly sales record. The company said it saw sales reach NT$15.328 billion (US$467.31 million) in the second quarter of this year, up 40.6% from the preceding quarter and hitting a historic high record in three quarters in a row. The company shipped 625,000 units of flat-screen TVs in the second quarter of this year, up a whopping 71% from the previous quarter.

With the peak season for flat-screen TVs in the third quarter, AmTran noted that it would see an increase of shipments of the products for the rest of this year.

AmTran predicted that it would be able to see double-digit gross operating margin in the second quarter of this year as the price hike in flat panels has only a small impact on its operations. The company said that the price hike is restricted to the 32-inch flat panels and it has increased shipments of 40-inch and above TFT-LCD TVs in the second quarter of this year.

Due to the substantial increase in shipment of flat-screen TVs, AmTran foresaw a shortage of production capacity in the fourth quarter of this year. To meet the increased market demand, the company has mapped out a plan to expand production capacity in its Suzhou plant in Jiangsu province, mainland China.

At present, the company is capable of rolling out 300,000 up to 350,000 units of flat-screen TVs per month in both Taiwan and mainland China. It has also begun producing flat-screen TVs in a plant in Mexico, which is leased from Tatung Co. The plant in Mexico is expected to see monthly output reach 30,000 units of flat-screen TVs in the third quarter of this year.

When the expansion project in the Suzhou plant is completed sometime in the second half of this year, the company will see its total monthly output reach between 500,000 and 600,000 units of flat-screen TVs.

(by Ben Shen)