Strong LCD-TV Market Lights Up Taiwanese Component Industries

Taipei, March 20, 2006 (CENS)--Strong demands for LCD-TVs have inspired Taiwanese makers of power supplies for the TVs to plan expansions, and the island' s suppliers of inverters, connectors, and modules for the TVs are also expecting to make big money from the TV market.

Delta Electronic Inc. plans to triple its output, while Li Shin International Enterprise Co., Ltd. And FSP Group project doubling output to keep up with strong market. The three companies are Taiwan' s top three makers of LCD-TV power supplies and are estimated to bag up to a combined 20% of the world market this year.

Delta' s executives pointed out that the company would boost output to 600, 000 power supplies per month by the end of this year from the current 200, 000 systems. The company saw orders begin soaring in the fourth quarter last year. It aims at snatching up 10% of the worldwide market this year.

The company' s LCD-TV power supplies are mostly for 26-inch, 27-inch, and 32-inch products. It forecast that systems for 32-inch and 37-inch TVs would constitute more than 50% of its total output this year, and predicted that power supplies for various other applications would triple this year from last year' s level in terms of shipments.

Delta is developing power supplies for game consoles, consumer electronics, and other electronic systems. It has secured orders to supply the power products used for Microsoft' s Xbox360 game machines. Power supplies for Apple' s iPod music players have also accounted for a relatively high percentage of its shipments.

ESP' s output has climbed on monthly basis since its factory in Wuxi, mainland China kicked off operations in the second half of last year. Its shipments totaled 950, 000 systems throughout last year, and ESP' s shipments for large-sized TVs reached 190, 000 systems last month, soaring more than 130% from a year ago.

Li Shin was an early entrant in the LCD-TV power supply segment. The company' s advantage lies in its affiliation with power-inverter manufacturers Logah Technology Co., Ltd., which co-develops products with LCD-panel suppliers. Currently, most of the inverters are integrated into power supplies. Logah has projected doubling output to one million systems per month sometime this year.

Logah and nearest rival Darfon Electronics Corp. are forecast to make around NT$1.4 billion (US$43.7 million at US$1:NT$32) this year thanks to the booming LCD TV market.