Konka sparks TV price war
9/2/2004 17:58
Konka TV sets' price plunge has triggered this year's first price war
in the TV industry with many other home appliance makers following in to cut
prices, today's Beijing Youth Daily reported.
So far, domestic TV brands
including Haier, Hisense, TCL and Skyworth have joined to mark down prices,
while overseas brands such as Panasonic, Toshiba, Philips and LG have cut
prices, the same report said.
Konka has initiated the price war with a
nationwide cut of nearly 6,000 yuan (US$726) on a 46-inch plasma TV set,
bringing down the price of product of its type to a record low of under 30,000
yuan.
Most TV sets of this type sell between 34,000 yuan and 38,000 yuan,
according to a Konka spokesman cited in the report.
The price war indicated
the competition focus in the TV industry has spread from the traditional
Cathode-ray tube (CRT) TV sets to high-end market of plasma products, market
analysts pointed out.
They said the sharp price cuts are made possible only
after the launch of Panasonic's plasma displayer manufacturing plant in
Shanghai, which enables a yearly capacity of 240,000.
Costs of plasma TV sets
have remained high, because domestic TV manufacturers have to depend on imports
from a few Japanese and South Korean manufacturers for the displayers, they
noted.
More than 20 TV makers are producing plasma TV sets in China, analysts
said, expecting the total output to top 150,000 this year and prices to fall up
to 20 percent.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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