Panasonic, one of the world's leading household appliance suppliers, is making efforts to strengthen its foothold in the enormous market for high-end flat TVs.

"Market demand for flat TVs is intensifying very rapidly in China and Panasonic aims to realize a market share of more than 30 per cent," Osakabe Akihiko, president of Panasonic Plasma Display Shanghai Co Ltd, said yesterday.

With an investment of US$200 million, Panasonic Plasma Display Shanghai Co Ltd is now Panasonic's key base for flat TV production. It can produce 240,000 units a year.

Official statistics indicate that at least 5 million CRT (cathode ray tube) TVs will be replaced in China each year from 2003 on.

According to a survey conducted recently by the China Chamber of Commerce of Electronics, 21.7 per cent of people will buy TVs this year, 48.6 per cent of whom prefer flat TVs. Domestic market demand for flat TVs could then reach 1.85 million units this year, up 185 per cent from the 650,000 units in 2004.

He said Panasonic has PDP (plasma display panel) TVs for the big-screen flat TV market and LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs for the medium- and small-screen market.

The firm's 37-inch and above TVs are all PDP TVs. Those with screens less than 32 inches are all LCD TVs for the China market.

He said the product strategy is expected to make Panasonic competitive for the whole range.

Panasonic will use technological know-how rather than price undercutting to seek a satisfactory market share in China, he said.

He estimates market demand for PDP TVs will reach 450,000 units in China this year; 650,000 in 2006; 900,000 in 2007; and many more in 2008, when the Olympic Games are held in Beijing.

He said that the improved living conditions of the Chinese people, especially those in the better developed cities, and the falling price of flat TVs explains a lot as to why the market demand is intensifying so quickly.

Sales of the televisions in Guangzhou, he said, contributed to 10 per cent of Panasonic's total PDP TV sales in China last year.

The current price of flat TVs in China has plummeted some 50 per cent from 2003, making them increasingly affordable for Chinese families.

(China Daily June 29, 2005)