At the company’s spring news conference on Thursday, BenQ manager Hung Han-ching said that starting with the third quarter, BenQ will produce only BenQ-brand cellphones and will hold B2B (Back-to-BenQ) promotion activities.

“We plan to launch 14 new models of cellphone in 2007, averaging two to three models each season. Among the new models in the third Q, you will see the BenQ brand,” he was quoted as saying.

“For the second quarter, BenQ allows its cellphone manufacturers to decide if they want to use BenQ-Siemens or BenQ,” he said.

BenQ bought the loss-making cellphone unit of Siemens in 2005 to form BenQ Mobile to design the Siemens-BenQ line of cell phones. Siemens allowed BenQ to use its brand to make cellphones for five years.

But in September 2006, BenQ stopped investing in BenQ Mobile, citing losses of 840 million euros (US$1.1 billion) on delays in new models, causing BenQ Mobile to file for bankruptcy and throwing its 3,000 staff out of work.

On March 21, 4,350 creditors of BenQ Mobile met in Munich to prepare to claim 1.2 billion euros (US$1.6 billion) in compensation from BenQ. Creditors include BenQ Mobile employees and Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo, who appeared in a 2005 TV commercial promoting BenQ Mobile.

BenQ denied that it had any responsibility to the overseas creditors, but Taiwan press hinted that BenQ was selling shares to prepare for a payoff, even if only to Taiwan creditors.

On Thursday, BenQ unveiled a new cellphone model and the “world’s thinnest” digital camera.

BenQ has declared on several occasions that it will preserve and consolidate its cellphone unit in Taiwan and in China. In the first quarter of 2007, BenQ hopes its cellphone output can reach 750,000 to 800,000 units, up 30 percent from 600,000 units in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email