ViewSonic Inc expected revenue in China to grow 36 percent next year through rapidly growing demand for large LCD TVs, which is fueled by the country's gradual transition to digital TV and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai Daily learned yesterday.

ViewSonic China's revenue will hit US$360 million in 2008 compared with US$260 million this year and US$200 million in 2006, Edward Yue, ViewSonic China's marketing division director, said in an exclusive interview.

ViewSonic, a US-based provider of visual display products, bets the high growth rate on the sales of 32-inch or above LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, which will reach about 30,000 units next year compared with 18,000 this year.

Half of the ViewSonic LCD TVs sold in China next year will be HD (high-definition) models, which support digitized TV programs and even BlueRay videos, Yue told Shanghai Daily.

"It is an irresistible attraction for people here to upgrade their TVs while the Olympics are held in their hometown and the TV signal becomes digitized," Yue said.

In the first nine months, LCD TV output totaled 11.08 million in China, a 71.6 percent jump from a year ago. The LCD output had accounted for 19.5 percent of all TV models, adding 8.4 percentage points, according to the Ministry of Information Industry.

The LCD TV cost will decrease 10 to 15 percent annually within the next three years until 2010, which will hasten the popularity of LCD TV, according to US-based research firm DisplaySearch.

"We have been recognized as the tier-one LCD TV brand in China (along with Sharp, Samsung and LG) and that has proven profitability," Yue said.

In the fiercely-competed domestic LCD market, with about 25 players, the top vendors get the 80 percent of the profit, industry insiders said.

In the commercial LCD TV market, ViewSonic jumped rapidly to occupy 32 percent market share in the greater-than-30-inch LCD TV category globally, DisplaySearch said in a recent note.

(Shanghai Daily December 28, 2007)