Demand for tablets in the Taiwan market is growing fast, with nearly two million units to be sold in 2013 including mobile telecom carriers' contract-bundled sales and sales of Wi-Fi versions through retail chains, according to executive vice president and chief sales & marketing office Maxwell Cheng for Consumer Sales & Marketing Division of Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET).
The forecast tablet sales volume in 2013 is about double the sales level in 2012, Cheng said. In the Taiwan market, 7-inch models are estimated to account for 70-80% of sold tablets, Cheng pointed out. FET sells 20,000-30,000 tablets bundle with contracts a month through its retail network and is confident of attaining target sales of 300,000 units for 2013, Cheng indicated.
FET currently has 330 self-operated retail stores and may add 30-50 more in the second half of 2013, Cheng said. Including franchised retail stores, FET plans to expand its retail network around Taiwan to 1,000 retail stores at the end of 2013, Cheng indicated.
FET has offered handset recycling services and encourages handset users, including non-FET subscribers, to have their used handsets valued for recycling at FET retail stores, Cheng pointed out. Nearly half of users may replace handsets although existing handsets are still in usable condition and nearly 30% of users have more than three handsets in use, Cheng indicated.
FET has introduced Xiaomi smartphone developed by China-based Xiaomi Technology for contract-bundled sale in the Taiwan market and expects to sell over 50,000 units, Cheng said.
Article translated by Adam Hwang
