Aug 17, 2000

Prodisc Technology Inc. of Taiwan recently announced that it had formed a strategic alliance with ViewSonic Corp., to develop rear projection screens.

Prodisc said that it would be responsible for developing and manufacturing the screen components, while ViewSonic would be in charge of assembling and marketing the final product.

To strengthen their cooperative ties, ViewSonic plans to subscribe part of an upcoming capital increase by Prodisc. The Taiwan manufacture is also in talks with Hitachi over the possibility of supplying rear projection screens to the Japanese firm on an OEM-basis. Prodisc expects the specialty screens to generate over NT$1.5 billion in revenue next year, with a net profit margin of about 50%.

Prodisc said that it would begin mass producing the screens at the end of this month. The company will initially turn out 52- to 62-inch TV screens and 25- to 30-inch monitor displays. The company has a current capacity of about 20,000 screens per month and the monthly volume will triple to 60,000 next year. Prodisc has received orders from several local display/monitor makers, including Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd., Delta Electronics, Inc., and Optima Corp.

Prodisc said it would also ship screens to Japan, the U.S., Southeast Asia, and mainland China. Through ViewSonic's well-established sales channels worldwide, Prodisc expects to have about a 15% share of the global market for rear projection screens next year.

Prodisc claims to be one of the few makers of rear projection screens in the world. The company won the OEM contract from ViewSonic after impressing the U.S. company with its advanced technology and competitive prices.

James Chu, Chairman & CEO of ViewSonic, said that the rear-projection screens have unlimited market potential as the production of information appliances (IAs) grows. Chu added that his company might also cooperate with Ritek Display Technology, a newly established maker of thin film transistor (TFT)-LCDs here, for future supply of rear projection screens.

Prodisc said that Hitachi has begun producing 43-inch and 55-inch rear-projection TVs in conjunction with the formal debut of digital TV broadcasts in Japan. The Japanese firm will soon send representatives to finalize the OEM project with Prodisc. Hitachi has already provided DVD-RAM to Prodisc as part of an earlier cooperative venture.

Prodisc said that its rear-projection screens would attract more OEM business from international big brands due to their high quality and low price. The company claims its screens are only 20% to 30% the cost of rival Japanese products.