Topic: BenQ enters Canadian laptop market

Source: Computer Dealer News
Time: October 10, 2003
Title: "BenQ spreads Joybook to Canada"

Summary: In an effort to establish the company as a major player in notebook technology, "BenQ will begin shipping its newly created line of Joybooks, an Intel Centrino-based notebook for business and entertainment, to the Canadian market sometime before the end of 2003."

Quotes:

• K.Y. Lee, chairman and CEO of BenQ, "The U.S. is a much larger market. We need more time to prepare for that market. I do not want to launch it too early there. We need to be ready.
  With Canada's size it is more reasonable for us to carry it in Canada first."
• Lee: "Being a peripherals manufacturer first will help the company differentiate
  BenQ's Joybook against other competitors"
• Peter Chen, vice-president and general manager of digital media at BenQ,
  said the company's go to market strategy for its Joybook notebook in North
  America will use solution providers such as VARs, system integrators and
  resellers/retailers.
• Michelle Warren, market analyst at Evans Research in Toronto said BenQ's
  move to enter a competitive environment will offer more choices for
  corporate and consumer purchasers. She believes this is a positive step in
  growing the market and the firm's presence.
• Warren: "BenQ entering the Canadian notebook market bodes well for the IT industry
  as a whole. The decision to enter Canada prior to the United States is
  indicative of the robust market in Canada compared to our neighbours in
  the south. BenQ's strength is in its commitment to the Canadian channel,
  specifically through its distribution partnerships with ALC Micro,
  Comtronic, Daiwa, Supercom and Synnex Canada," she said.

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Source: Computer Dealer News
Time: November 21, 2003
Title: "BenQ boss bends tradition"

Interview:

Lee sat down with Computer Dealer News just before the start of the
Computex computer trade show here to talk about the new notebook and the
Canadian marketplace.

CDN: Why enter the notebook market now?

K.Y. Lee: We made peripherals for a long time and made the mobile phone for
seven years. But we did not do this in the U.S. So most people do not know
this. Before we changed our name to BenQ we were Acer Communications and
Multimedia. We focused on multimedia peripherals and we believe in the
future that people need something beyond that. We have so many products
surrounding the computer but it is not enough. People need something to
connect all these multimedia peripheral devices together. We needed
something that could help integrate this networking environment. With this
vision in mind, we entered this business. We have already introduced these
products in Asia and Europe. Early next year in the U.S. we start to
launch these products.

CDN: You are in an extremely competitive market with IBM, HP, Sony, Toshiba
and Acer. What is going to make your notebook stand out in this market?

Lee: In the old days people used notebook for business purposes. More and
more people are now using them for personal applications with multimedia
functions. We believe in the future all notebooks will have functions that
integrate video capabilities and wireless technologies into that small
box. So we optimized our products to support those features. For example,
the video functions: To see the DVDs or motion pictures, you need a really
bright screen. Currently, most LCD screens are made for e-mail, word or
spreadsheet purposes. We do not need screens for faster changing videos.
But, for video screens are not as bright as a TV. We needed to upgrade
this to support that. With support from our LCD companies we have
developed a new screen for our notebooks. We believe our products can
optimize the video and multimedia applications for home and office.

CDN: What is your strategy for the channel with the new Joy book?

Lee: In Asia, we have had very good response from the market. This is what
customers needed. Customers here use the computer for business, but when
they travel they also use it for entertainment. In Asia people do not make
a difference between business and entertainment. So we believe notebooks
should be focused more on entertainment in the future. For channel
purposes I do not see any changes. In Asia we use existing channels.

CDN: Will BenQ make a tablet PC to complement its new notebook line?

Lee: Not today. We think that the tablet PC solutions today are too heavy
and not friendly enough. There are several bottlenecks to solve such as
power consumption and the width of the total solution. Today, it simply is
not friendly enough. These are critical problems that we have to
encounter. The current hardware cannot support it and we are not keen on
(tablet PCs).

CDN: What are your goals and aspirations for the new subsidiary in Canada?

Lee: Initially, we just wanted to provide more solutions in projectors, LCD
monitors and DVD storage devices to the market. But, we will introduced
the Joybook to Canada first in the North American market.