The price of flat-panel displays in Hong Kong is expected to fall as much as 20 per cent this year, with the decline driven by strong demand and higher production capacity.
Samsung Electronics Hong Kong general manager Steven Yu Kam-hon made this forecast at the launch of its plasma and liquid crystal display-thin film transistor (LCD-TFT) televisions on Monday.
Samsung has strong competition from the likes of Sony and Fujitsu, but the company is aiming to raise its profile in the flat-screen television market, which Mr Yu expected to grow more rapidly in the SAR than in most other markets.
'We estimate the TV market in Hong Kong is around 200,000 to 220,000 sets per year. And the proportion for the flat screen, whether it is plasma or TFT, accounts for 20 per cent and this number is increasing rapidly. So in two years time in 2004 it will be 80 per cent. That's our estimation,' Mr Yu said.
Plasma screens have been on the Hong Kong market for about five years, and when Chek Lap Kok opened in 1998, prices on the 42-inch models were about HK$100,000. Now similar displays cost about HK$35,000 to HK$40,000 and were finding their way into Hong Kong living rooms, Mr Yu said.
The plasma screens cost at least 50 per cent more per square inch than cathode-ray-tube (CRT) televisions, but despite the economic slump, the price difference had not slowed demand, he said.