Demand shift threatens TV makers

Flat panels will replace conventional cathode ray tube televisions by 2010, threatening mainland manufacturers' future competitiveness with foreign rivals, the South China Morning Post reported. Lucky Zhang Shuyang, chairman of Hong Kong-listed television components maker Mitsumaru East Kit, said 152 million cathode ray tube television sets were produced globally last year, of which China accounted for 60 million, half of them for export. However, the mainland only accounted for 1.6 million of the 32 million flat-panel sets manufactured worldwide. By 2010, the production of flat-screen sets will rise to 128 million while the number of cathode ray tube televisions will fall to 93 million.