BenQ focus on cameras

Sales and marketing director Teerawut Supapunpinyo said the company decided to step into the camera market after it was successful with such IT products as notebooks, liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors and LCD projectors last year.

The company wants to seek a new IT segment in Thailand and plans to gain a significant share of the compact-digital-camera market this year.

Although the performance of the camera market was not good last year, BenQ (Thailand) believes there is a room to grow among tech-savvy teenagers and first-jobbers, Teerawut said.

The strength of BenQ's compact digital cameras is that non-experts find their functions easy to use, he added. They have touch-screen technology, face tracking and shake-free technology. BenQ digital cameras provide high lens quality and LCD.

"Besides, the prices of all four series of digital cameras are cheaper than other brands by at least Bt3,000 to Bt4,000 per piece and with the same technology standard. Everything in the series is priced below Bt10,000," he said.

Teerawut said 63 per cent of the digital-camera market was the low and medium market, with prices not exceeding Bt10,000 per piece. BenQ projects to achieve 5 per cent of this segment, or about Bt360 million in sales revenue.

BenQ plans to launch another four series of compact digital cameras in the second half of the year. In the future, the company will continue in this market by providing high-technology products, such as a camera that can also be an MP3 or MP4 and even have a Global Positioning System, he said.

Last year, BenQ achieved good operating results. In the notebook market, sales revenue grew 60-65 per cent from the previous year, while its LCD-monitor segment rose 50 per cent.

In the LCD-projector market, the company maintained its No-1 position, with a 15-per-cent share. Sales revenue in this segment increased 10 per cent from 2006, Teerawut said.

"The company earned Bt1 billion in sales revenue. In 2008, we predict our revenue will reach Bt1.7 billion," he said.

He said the company would double its spending on marketing activities from last year, in order to build up brand awareness in its digital cameras and other IT goods.

BenQ chose Jebsen and Jessen Marketing to be its distribution partner for four series of digital cameras: the C, E, T and X series. Jebsen and Jessen will handle below-the-line marketing for BenQ.

Nalin Viboonchart

The Nation