This is probably not good news for the world's major LCD manufacturers, unless you happen to be Chinese, but maybe good news for consumers globally. According to a Web site sponsored by the official Xinhua News Agency, five Chinese firms have formed a joint venture to "study the feasibility of entering the LCD industry."
The five companies, in a nation of more than 1.3 billion people, include Skyworth Digital Holdings, Shenzhen City Shenchao Technology Investment, Sichuan Changhong Electric, TCL Corporation and Konka Group.
According to the news agency (which cites various "media reports"), the consortium's collective TV business accounts for more than 70 percent of the Chinese market. The joint venture's activities will initially be funded with 10 million yuan ($1.24 million) in capital with each firm sharing 20 percent of the venture.
The venture (named "Shenzhen Julong") will conduct research on how the five manufacturers might acquire the technology to make their own flatscreen HD and SD sets. Although Chinese firms often prefer to manufacture products for internal consumption (sometimes using its own technology), a lot of their product often finds its way to the rest of the world. Eventually, if the consortium decides to produce mass quantities of LCD sets, it could potentially and dramatically, lower LCD price points worldwide.
