DVD Player Sales Forecast to Double in 2000
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com
February 18, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- A continuing fall in the price of DVD players generated
healthy sales in 1999.
Prices are expected to continue falling this year, and sales are forecast to double.
DVD-player prices have been falling continuously since mid-1998, and in 1999 the average
price dropped to as low as NT$15,000 a unit. By the end of l999, the unit price fell to
NT$9,900. In turn, full-year sales soared to 170,000 units, a dramatic year-on-year rise of
120 percent. This year prices are expected to fall even further, and sales of DVD-players
sales are widely expected to rise to 400,000 units. (NT$30.71 = US$1)
Besides lower prices, greater consumer choice as the number of own-brand players in the
market continues to grow was another key factor behind the soaring sales of DVD players
last year. As the number of suppliers grows -- Sampo Corp., Royal Information Electronics
Co. and Afreey Inc. have now entered the market -- prices will remain under pressure to
fall further.
DVD players were first introduced into Taiwan in 1997, and prices initially hovered in a
range between NT$25,000 and NT$30,000. Prices began to fall in mid-1998, when the first
locally-made products began to challenge the dominance of the overseas products. With
their entry into the market, prices fell to below NT$20,000 by the end of 1998.
Better production-cost control gave local DVD-player producers a distinct advantage over
their offshore counterparts. In 1999 the local industry drove prices down to below
NT$15,000 a unit, raising demand for their products accordingly. By the end of the year
the price had fallen to NT$9,900.
As prices continue to fall, DVD players in a price range between NT$15,000 and NT$9,000
stand to become the market mainstream this year.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan) |
