From the April 30 DIGITIMES comes this news about OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) digital photo frame orders:
“In view of the estimated global demand for 20 million digital photo frames in 2008, many makers in southern China have offered lower prices to compete with Taiwan-based makers for OEM orders, but their disadvantages in inferior quality and inability to secure supplies of small-sized TFT-LCD panels renders them unattractive to international brand vendors including Phillips, Sony, Toshiba, and ViewSonic, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
Most makers in southern China used to assemble digital music and/or DVD players and thereby are familiar with image processing and modulating technologies, the sources pointed out. AS the technological barriers for stepping into making digital photo frames are not high, makers have quoted prices 5-8% lower than Taiwan-based makers to compete for OEM orders.
However, compared with leading Taiwan-based competitors such as Lead Data, Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and Qisda, China-based makers are significantly less competitive in terms of quality, production capacity and ability to procure enough TFT-LCD panels (mainly 7- and 8.9-inch) partly due to competition from low-costs notebook PC’s and handheld devices, the sources analyzed.
Consequently, it will be hard for china-based makers to land OEM orders from leading international vendors for the time being, the sources asserted, and so the makers are currently focusing on winning orders from second-tier and small vendors, white-box brands, as well as retail channels, the sources noted.
Currently, leading Taiwan-based makers each ship 200,000 - 300,000 digital photo frames a month while the average monthly shipment volume for China-based competitors is below 100,000 units, the sources indicated. Of the estimated global demand for 20 million digital photo frames in 2008, Taiwan-based makers may collectively account for as much as 90% of shipments with China-based makers making up the remaining 10%, the sources forecast.”
There’s more news about the three awesome Sony digital picture frames that we featured here at FrameMedia last February!
According to the April 24 DIGITIMES:
“Lite-On IT has secured OEM orders for digital photo frames from Sony, with shipments to begin in the second quarter of 2008, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
Online orders for three Sony digital photo frames for sale under its own brand S-Frame, the 7-inch DPF-D700, the 7-inch DPF-V700, and the 9-inch DPF-V900, opened in March 2008.
Succeeding in competition with other Taiwan-based makers including Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry), Lead Data and Qisda, Lite-On IT has landed OEM orders for the DPF-D700 and DPF-V700 models, the sources indicated.
Lite-On IT obtained OEM orders for digital photo frames from Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2007, with production outsourced to Taiwan-based maker Action Electronics, the sources noted. For Sony’s orders, however, Lite-On IT will . . . be responsible for production.”
Some interesting news is coming out of China-based Huawei Technologies: there are plans to launch Sim-card-enabled digital photo frames in Taiwan.
According to the DigiTimes, “Huawei has held talks with a number of telecom carriers in Taiwan, and some of the telecom operators may introduct SIM-enabled digital photo frames in Taiwan in the third quarter of this year. . . .”
Apparently, Huawei Technologies is currently in talks with several Taiwan companies and wants to launch SIM-enabled digital photo frames as soon as possible. Krunker.com tells us that “With mobile phones fast replacing home phones, it’s only natural to see more and more convergence among different consumer electronics. Combining a digital photo frame with mobile phone technology is similar to caller ID photos appearing on mobile phones themselves - except with much higher resolutions.”
Sounds like a great idea to me!
According to Michael Fitzhugh of the East Bay (California) Business Times, Pandigital is now the Number One seller of wireless/digital photo frames!
The Pandigital frame pictured here is one of the newest PanTouch frames, which were discussed on this blog last Thursday.
Dean Finnegan, Pandigital’s CEO and founder, has built Pandigital from the ground up, beginning in August of 2006, underselling other digital picture frame companies and capturing more and more of the market each year. This year - 2008 - Pandigital’s sales topped $44 million, employs about 85 people, and sells wireless/digital photo frames ranging in size from 1.8 inches to 15 inches.
Dean Finnegan is pictured here with his incredible 15-inch Pandigital picture frame, which was featured right here on February 15. Click here to see that post again, and to watch the consumer-generated video about it.
You can read the entire article about Pandigital’s Number One status, right here at the East Bay Business Times.
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