Japanese electronics giant Sony hopes to become the biggest player in
the Chinese high-end TV market by expanding production and launching new
products.

Tadanobu Matsushima, president of the consumer sales and marketing
unit with Sony China, said his company wants to become number one in the
"high-end" segment in the world's biggest TV market.

"The market is changing very rapidly and we will continue to
launch products to meet new demands," said Matsushima.

The Japanese firm has decided to expand production at SSV Shanghai
Suoguang Visual Products Co Ltd. Although Sony has presence in all
segments from products as cheap as 2,000 yuan (US$250) to luxurious
models sold at over 40,000 yuan (US$4,800), it only produces low-end
products in China and high-end ones are imported.

According to Tomihiro Kasuya, SSV Suoguang's president, a joint
venture with the Chinese electronics company SVA, his company produced
400,000 TV sets last year and all of them were traditional cathode
ray（阳极射线） tube sets.

After the expansion, SSV Suoguang's capacity will reach 1 million
units next year and the product range will cover all series of products
like high-end plasma display panel
(PDP)（等离子显示器） TVs, liquefied crystal display (LCD) TVs,
and micro-device projection (MDPJ)sets. The products will go toward
supplying the Chinese market.

Besides the introduction of high-end TV sets at SSV Suoguang, Sony
will release 15 new models by the end of this year and high-end products
will be top priorities.

Matsushima believes the demand from Chinese customers for large- and
wide-screen TVs and the need for high definition models with the
country's push for digital TV programmes will stimulate the high-end
demand.

It is said that 35 per cent of TV sets sold this year will be
large-screen models and the proportion of 16:9 wide-screen TV sets will
rise from last year's 14 per cent to 26 per cent. MDPJ TV sets, or LCD
projection TV sets, will play a big part in Sony's ambition.

Noriaki Negishi, general manager of the East Asian area with Sony's
TV Group, said that out of 100 TV sets sold in China during April to
July, only 22 were projection TV models, but the ratio in the United
States was 43 per cent and the sales value of MDPJ TV sets already
reached one-fourth of the total projected TV sales. That means there is
huge potential in the Chinese market for such models.

"Now is the best timing to launch our top products," he
said.