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Published on July 13, 2007

Presently, Sharp is ranked fourth in the local market, with a share of about 20 per cent. The current market leader is Samsung.

Two years ago, Sharp led the local LCD-television market with a 40-per-cent share. It lost its No-1 position because the production capacity of its Japanese parent was only 720,000 units a year, which was insufficient to meet the high demand for LCD receivers internationally.

At the end of last year, the group opened a second plant in Japan with additional capacity of 360,000 units a year, in order to serve foreign markets.

Sharp Thai managing director Kazuo Sasaki said the company planned to sell 18,000 LCD television sets in Thailand this year and double that figure next year.

Despite the economic slow-down, the LCD-television market is still growing 50-70 per cent this year, because people are replacing their conventional cathode-ray tube receivers with LCD models. A company survey showed there were about 2 million conventional television sets in use in Thailand, but the market for conventional models is declining 5-10 per cent each year.

Due to fierce price competition in the Thai market, Sharp Thai plans to focus on launching high-value products to hike its margins, which have fallen considerably since last year. For example, the current price of a 32-inch LCD television receiver has fallen 35 per cent since last year, Sasaki said.

He said the overall market for audiovisual and office automation products would show flat growth this year, because of lower consumer spending.

Sharp Thai, which began operations on July 2, has four core business units: audiovisual and office automation, home appliances, document systems and solar modules. It has targeted revenues of Bt3.6 billion this year, of which 30 per cent will come from audiovisual products, another 30 per cent from home appliances and the rest from document systems and solar modules. It expects to boost sales revenues to Bt4 billion next year.

Sasaki said the company's solar-module business would become more significant in the future, due to global warming and the government's support policy.

Chalida  Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation