Tatung to Become NT$1 Trillion Business Group in 10 Years

Taipei, May 2, 2008 (CENS)--Tatung Group, a leading Taiwan-based manufacturer of home appliances, heavy electric machinery and information technology products, promises to grow into a business group with annual sales reaching NT$1 trillion (US$33.11 billion at US$1:NT$30.2) in 10 years, after having been in existence for 90 years.

While trying to expand territory, Tatung Group has resolved to keep such high-value-added manufacturing operations as green energy and semiconductor in Taiwan, but move the production of low-margin and low-value products overseas. The group will also take a bi-directional approach to develop idle land, including engaging in property management and land development. When the window of opportunity opens, the group would also purchase land to build shopping malls.

To develop overseas markets, the group will concentrate on the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) markets in the next three years; while it will focus on Oman to tap the Middle East market, to which it has been exporting manufacturing technologies for heavy electric machinery and cables since the first quarter of 2008.

Tatung plans to set up a plant for heavy electric machinery somewhere in the Middle East by the end of 2009 which will begin mass production sometime in 2010.

Its plan to move production of low-margin products overseas will see the group relocate production of motors and transformers to Shanghai, mainland China; computers and displays to Wujiang of Jiangsu province; and home appliances and heavy electric machinery to Vietnam.

The past year has seen the Tatung Group change its service depots into 3C (computers, communications and consumer electronics) display centers islandwide, with 200 such display centers already set up and the number to increase to 350 by the end of this year. The group say its 3C display centers sell not only Tatung-produced products but also Hewlett Packard-branded notebook computers and printers, and Acer-branded computers.