Taiwan's BenQ aims for 30 pct revenue growth in '08

By Sheena Lee

TAIPEI, May 15 (Reuters) - Taiwan's BenQ, the branded unit of Qisda Corp (2352.TW), said on Thursday it expects revenue to grow 30 percent this year and next as it expands in emerging markets such as Latin America, Middle East and China.

"We are seeing very fast growth in regions like Latin America, and it's our strategy to target these markets with high growth potential," Chief Executive Officer and President of BenQ Conway Lee told a news conference.

BenQ's branded business had revenue of T$60 billion ($1.9 billion) in 2007.

Lee's company will start shipping mobile internet products this year as it is in collaboration with a carrier in Europe.

He declined to identify the partner or say how many units the firm would ship.

BenQ is also considering selling child-friendly PCs after products such as Asustek Computer's (2357.TW) low-cost Eee PC were warmly received, prompting many technology firms to consider developing similar computers.

"We are currently discussing whether it will be a good business decision for our company to sell such laptops. And if we decide to do so, it will be sold in the fourth quarter (this year)," Lee said.

Taiwan's Acer Inc (2353.TW), the world's third-largest computer vendor behind Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) and Dell (DELL.O), has said it will unveil a low-cost "netbook" laptop by the second to third quarter of this year.

Intel Corp (INTC.O) and HP have launched similar products as the firms hope to target a new consumer segment in the market.

BenQ, which lost about $1.2 billion after it failed to turn around the mobile phone unit of Germany's Siemens (SIEGn.DE), was spun off from its manufacturing unit after the business declared insolvency in Europe last year.

The firm has continued to run its contract manufacturing business under the Qisda name, and has been producing products such as projectors, LCD monitors and TVs under the separated BenQ company.

Separately, BenQ said it plans to list its branded business on the market, but declined to give a specific timeline. It has continued to sell mobile phones in certain Asia Pacific markets.

So far this year, shares of Qisda have dropped 18.3 percent, compared to the benchmark TAIEX index which gained 7.69 percent in the same period. (US$1=T$30.9) (Reporting by Sheena Lee; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)