The Taiwan optical-lens manufacturer Baso Precision Optics Ltd. Recently expanded its operations into the production of lenses for camera handsets. The company has traditionally made lenses for mid-range and high-performance digital cameras and scanners.

Baso was founded in 1970 by Robert Bosch GmbH of Germany, and claims to be Taiwan's first maker of optical lenses. It began turning out lenses for camera phones at its plant in Guangdong Province, mainland China, in July this year with an initial output of 300,000 lenses a month.

The firm estimates that global shipments of mobile phones will grow 30% this year to reach 480 million units, and feels that many of the phones will incorporate cameras.

The business opportunities that this growth represents is welcome news for Baso, which had revenues of NT$339.7 million (US$10 million at N$34:US$1) in the first seven months of this year representing a 25% decline from the same period of 2002.

Currently, optical lenses and lens glass make up 56.64% and 34.91% of the company's revenue, respectively. Most of the products are destined for use in digital cameras, liquid-crystal display (LCD) projectors, scanners, and projection TVs. Among the major buyers of these products are Leupold & Stevens Inc., 3M Co., Eastman Kodak Co., Primax Electronics Ltd., and Aiptek International Inc.

With its mature technology for the production of lenses for projection TVs, the company is well-positioned to take advantage of an expected market surge for these items, which are forecast to emerge as an attractive alternative to LCD-TVs and plasma-display panel (PDP) TVs because of their much lower prices.

Kodak now owns shares in Baso, and the latter is now the only Asian supplier of lenses for Kodak's 35mm film cameras.