Digital TV Exports More Than Triple

[Gregg Lengling]

The monetary volume of digital TV exports more than tripled in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period last year.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) yesterday, Korea¡¯s digital TV exports between January and September this year amounted to 470,000 units or $590 million, up 330.1 percent and 317.3 percent, respectively, year-on-year.

Outbound shipments of plasma display panel (PDP) TVs, highly profitable flat-screen TVs, totaled $190 million, up 440.5 percent year-on-year, or 57,000 units, up 631.1 percent from a year ago.

Projection TV exports rose 430.3 percent to 156,000 units or 360.6 percent to $200 million.

Cathode-ray tube TV exports rose 204.2 percent to 130,000 units ($102 million) and liquid crystal display (LCD) TV exports jumped 332.5 percent to 130,000 units ($94 million).

MOCIE, presuming the bullish sales will continue throughout the year, projects digital TV exports will reach 735,000 units or $890 million by the end of the year.

``The increase in digital TV exports is because of the development of new designs by local electronics firms that are more in line with foreign tastes, as well as the heightened price competitiveness of the Korean products. The expansion of North American digital TV market is also a contributor to the increase,¡¯¡¯ said Yoon Sang-jik, a director of MOCIE.

The global digital TV market, is currently estimated at $6.7 billion and is forecast to grow to $34 billion by 2006, according to MOCIE.

sjkim@koreatimes.co.kr