High-tech TVs new guide to China's economy
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-03 09:57
A young American who took a train from Guangzhou to Beijing in 1980 remembers
that one of the most frequently asked questions from his fellow passengers was
"how much does a color television cost in your country?" Back then, having a
color TV was a sign of affluence in China.
Mass production had not begun
and a 20-inch Toshiba or Sharp imported from Japan cost 4,000 to 5,000 yuan --
roughly what an average worker could make in 10 years.
In the 26 years
since then, color TVs have changed from being a luxury product to a mass-market
commodity.
Today, a 21-inch cathode-ray tube TV sells for as little as
800 yuan (100 U.S. dollars), less than a month's wages for an average urban
worker.
Booming industry -- here comes China Over the same period,
China's TV makers have risen to dominate the world market. They now produce
nearly half the 160 million TV sets produced globally each year.
By the
end of 2005, Chinese companies had produced 590 million color TVs and exported
172 million, the Ministry of Information Industry said.
Companies like
TCL, Konka, Changhong and Haier have all established their names in the
international marketplace over the past decade.
TCL, based in south
China's Guangdong Province near Hong Kong, has become one of the world's most
powerful TV makers following its 2004 takeover of France's Thomson group.
In the first half of the year, the company grabbed 11 percent of the
global color TV market with 10.88 million sets sold worldwide.
China's
second largest TV maker Changhong has entered 120 million homes in 100 countries
other than China since the company began to tap the international market in
1998.
Chinese companies have excelled in international competition since
the late 1980s with quality products and low prices.
On the way, they
have had to learn how to solve trade disputes and circumvent obstacles.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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