Brand AOC comes to India

Taiwan-based TPV Technology Limited is all set to enter India. Promoter of
AOC brand worldwide, the $5 billion monitor company, TPV is launching its
products in September and would focus on north and south India markets, before
expanding footprint to east and west India by January 2006.

The company intends to offer all its products in India including CRT
monitors, TFT displays, LCD and plasma televisions. "We are a leading OEM
supplier worldwide having produced 25 million monitors in the last year. All top
brands in the world buy monitors from us," claimed Saurabh Grover, Manager
Sales & Marketing, TPV Technology. In India, the company claims to have
shipped over 1.1 million monitors through OEM route in 2004. As for AOC brand,
the company has operations in South America, Europe, China, Singapore and
Malaysia.

"Today, AOC is a popular brand wherever we have launched it and we hope
to continue the winning streak in India too," said Grover. He elaborated
that the company, however, would go slow as part of its worldwide policy for AOC
brand. "It should not affect the OEM business and its relationship with the
partners. We want to build the AOC brand slowly and steadily in the
market," he said. Though, the company has not fixed any targets for itself,
it hopes to sell 25,000 monitors in the first four months (ending December 2005)
in north and south India. Going national by January 2006, it expects to market
over one lakh units in a year.

The company has appointed Delhi-based Vision Enterprises as its national
distributor to take its product to the market. Vision Enterprises would in-turn
appoint regional distributors across the country and is already in talks with
few channel partners in south and north India. "We are in the process of
finalizing the names and will have four regional distributors, to start
with," said Grover.

The company is betting on Vision Enterprises for its growth and according to
Grover, "There is a lot of synergy between the two companies and Vision
Enterprises is doing well in the market with Samsung, Olympus and Plantronics
range of products. It also has financial strength and carries good credibility
in the market," he pointed out.

TPV Technology is very optimistic about the India market and its growth rate.
The company sees a huge opportunity here, as India is still buying a large
quantity of CRT monitors, which is estimated at 90 percent of the total monitor
market share. "We have all the reasons to be here and AOC has wide range of
products, be it CRT and TFT monitors and LCD and plasma televisions," he
said.

The company expects to clock a turnover of Rs 50 crore in the first fiscal
(January-December 2006).

Price Monitor

AOC CRT: 15-inch to 19-inch: Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,000

AOC TFT: 15-inch & 17-inch: Rs 10,000 and Rs 14,000

AOC LCD TVs: 20-inch to 32-inch: Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh

AOC Plasma TVs: 42-inch to 50-inch: Rs 1.4 lakh to Rs 3 lakh

S Gopikrishna

Chennai