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SINGAPORE, January 20th, 2006 – BenQ Corporation, one of the world’s leaders in the design and manufacture of technology products, today unveiled its new consumer brand BenQ-Siemens.
Following BenQ Corp’s acquisition of Siemens AG’s mobile phone business last year, a dynamic company - BenQ Mobile - was created to focus on expanding its offering in the 3G arena and using its multimedia strengths to create a clearly differentiated product proposition.
BenQ Mobile combines the best of German engineering quality and experience of the telecommunication sector gained over 150 years, with BenQ’s lifestyle design expertise and speed to market. The unique partnership also benefits from the companies’ respective expertise in R&D, design, customer reach and manufacturing and the united cultural strengths of each company, under a ‘winning culture’ philosophy.
Targeting to be a financially stable business by the end of 2006, the company has adopted two key principles to drive its business forward; focus and simplicity: Focus on consumers & market proximity and simplicity across all operating structures to maximize efficiency.
Sheaffer Lee, President and Chief Operating Officer of BenQ Corporation said, “With the two companies now successfully integrated, we are keen to move forward and engage consumers both locally and globally with the spirit and energy of our combined BenQ-Siemens brand. The team driving the new company is hugely passionate and experienced and we will build on the existing equity in both brands across the world, to move forward with confidence.
“In addition, we are confident that the introduction of BenQ-Siemens mobiles into the Singapore market will allow us to grow our existing customer base even further, and that our strategy will see the birth of a sustainable and successful handset business that will command a significant share of the market.”
BenQ Mobile has also adopted an aggressive branding strategy. Rooted in the theme of exploration, the BenQ-Siemens brand reflects both sides of the company in balance. Visually this is shown in the “squound” shape between the words ‘BenQ’ and ‘Siemens’; the union of a square (representing rational thinking) and round (representing emotional touch), and by the colour purple, which fuses the emotional colour red with rational blue. Beyond graphics, the spirit of the new brand will engage consumers that share BenQ-Siemens curiosity and excitement about the possibilities of mobile technology.
In addition, to mark the launch of the BenQ-Siemens brand in Singapore, the company unveiled today the first two products to carry the new joint brand name – the EF81 and S88. Both phones feature slim design and premium metallic finishing but it is the EF81 in particular that provides an indication of the future roadmap: miniaturization of high speed UMTS technology in an ultra thin magnesium clamshell design.
BenQ Mobile has committed that at least a third of its products launched in 2006 will be 3G and that there will be a significant focus on multimedia; with every three out of four products featuring a music player or FM radio and every second phone offering a minimum 1.3 mega pixel camera. From a design perspective BenQ-Siemens will create elegant yet surprising devices that build on the respective expertise of the two companies. BenQ is renowned for its award-wining design, scooping 86 international design awards in just three years (2002-05) and Siemens’ reputation for ingenuity, in introducing both the first slider and mp3-phone.
The introduction of the BenQ-Siemens mobile phone offering in Singapore sees the company’s evolution to a full-fledged 3C (Computing, Consumer Electronics, and Communications) brand, as it expands its offering to include communication products.
This, on the back of extremely strong growth for the company’s computing and consumer electronic businesses, is very encouraging, noted Lee. He said, “We are entering 2006 with great confidence – in just one year the BenQ brand equity grew by 27 per cent , our key products are doing extremely well, with 6% global market share of projector sales and our growth in LCD monitor sales is double the global average. We have a top three market share position in 19 markets worldwide for projectors and in 5 markets for LCD monitors.
“With a continued focus on achieving technological firsts, such as our Senseye technology, coupled with our unique design philosophy, we are certain that we will continue to grow our market share across all product areas.”
Since its entry into the Singapore market in late 2002, the company has progressively expanded its product offerings, from its initial range of mainly computing and IT products such as LCD monitors, notebooks and projectors to include its popular consumer electronics line which was introduced in 2004, comprising digital cameras, MP3 players and LCD TVs.
Together with the new range of mobile phones, BenQ also unveiled a series of new products within its Consumer Electronics range in Singapore, including several new series of LCD TVs, such as the new Value Line (VL) Series line of high-performance LCD TVs with two entry-level models -- the 32-inch VL3231 and 37-inch VL3731. Affordably priced, both models are HDTV compatible (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i), and provide high contrast ratios up to (1000:1) and high-speed performance with an 8-millisecond response time. Both models feature BenQ's proprietary “Senseye” digital-enhancement technology that automatically and dynamically improves image quality, adjusts brightness and darkness levels, performs color mapping procedures, and reduces jagged edges on images.
In addition, BenQ also introduced its new 19-inch FP93V LCD monitor, featuring a simple, refreshing, all-white polished exterior that is elegant in design and equipped with an ultra-fast 8ms response time and a 550:1 contrast ratio, the perfect complement to any office and home décor.
Two new digital projectors were also introduced at the event - the BenQ MP720p and MP620, both of which are designed for multimedia presentations in educational and business setting.
Both models feature BenQ's Color Matching Technology to deliver greater color saturation, while enlarging the color gamut and using advanced gamma adjustments to more precisely reproduce the colors present. The projectors also offer a 2500/ 2200 ANSI lumens, enabling consumers to show presentations in a bright environment. Along with its bright image come various features such as its nine sets of application mode, which provides instant optimized settings for brightness, color saturation and contrast
About BenQ Group
The BenQ Group is currently comprised of ten companies that operate independently while sharing resources and leveraging synergies among them. The BenQ Group companies include AU Optronics Corporation, the world’s third largest manufacturer of LCD panels; Darfon Electronics Corporation; Daxon Technology Inc; Airoha Technology Corporation; Darly Venture Inc; BenQ Guru Software Co., Ltd; Philips BenQ Digital Storage; Cando Corporation, and BenQ Mobile. 2004 revenues for BenQ Group exceeded US$10.8 billion dollars.
BenQ Corporation consists of three main business groups—Computing Products, Digital Media and Mobile Business. Although these business groups encompass a broad range of products, each retains a focus on providing consumer-oriented solutions designed especially for the digital lifestyle. 2004 revenues exceeded US$5.1 billion dollars. For more information, please visit our website at BenQ.com.
About BenQ Mobile
BenQ Mobile is an industry leader in wireless communication devices with a high lifestyle appeal. Headquartered in Munich (Germany), the company is one of three business divisions of BenQ Corporation and a trademark licensee of Siemens AG.
With revenues of more than 5.6 billion Euros in 2004*, over 7000 employees worldwide, its state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing facilities in Aalborg (Denmark), Beijing, Suzhou (China), Kamp-Lintfort, Munich, Ulm (Germany), Manaus (Brazil), Mexicali (Mexico) Taipei (Taiwan), and Wroclaw (Poland), and a strong sales, marketing and service network, BenQ Mobile benefits from its global footprint. BenQ Mobile will leverage complementary competencies and resources in product creation, developing elegant yet exciting devices that allow consumers to further explore mobility.
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