Electronic producers hope exhibition will revive sales

  • 2005-09-14
  • From wire reports
VILNIUS - Lithuania's manufacturers of electronic goods have said they are holding out hope that a recent exhibition will boost lagging sales.
Both Siauliu Tauro Televizoriai, a TV set maker, and Ekranas, a producer of color picture tubes, are hoping that the IFA global household appliances exhibition in Berlin will result in new orders.


Both companies introduced new products at the event.

Vilniaus Vingis, a deflection yoke producer that is also suffering from slower sales, is projecting an increase in orders as well, after the exhibit.

"The exhibition has revived the market, as we have expected, and the order portfolio is rising. One thing is clear - the demand is on the rise and all participants,who came to the exhibition in pessimistic moods, left the event on a much more optimistic note," Vaclovas Sleinota, Vilniaus Vingis CEO, told the Baltic News Service.

Eimutis Zvybas, CEO of Ekranas, which claims to hold one-fourth of Europe's color picture tube market, was quoted as saying that the company is anticipating a revival on the electronics market.

"The exhibition has been very successful for us 's we have found new customers, concluded supply contracts with old-time customers. We have not seen any special novelties or great breakthroughs. Ekranas has been very successful with its new product - new generation Slim Type CPF. Thus, we are online," Angelija Zokaitiene, an Ekranas spokeswoman, said.

The exhibition in Berlin was the first to be targeted by electronics experts, she added.

The event, which boasted 1,200 companies from 40 countries as participants, drew some 250,000 visitors.

Ekranas has already kicked off trial manufacturing of its 21'' Slim Type color picture tube. The company's investments into this product will amount to 20 million litas (5.8 million euros).

Vilniaus Vingis posted 47.2 million litas in sales for the first half of 2005, a plunge of 32.2 percent from the year-earlier figure. Losses comprised 1.4 million litas in the reporting period, down from a profit of 4.3 million litas in the first half of 2004.

Likewise, Ekranas' sales declined by 39 percent to 164.6 million litas in the January-to-June period.