Trans Global To Market Hisense TV

Boca Raton, Fla. — Hisense Electronics, one of China's largest TV manufacturers, has signed on Trans Global Consulting and Marketing Group (TGC), based here, to launch products under the Hisense brand in the North American retail and OEM markets.

TGC is operated by the same sales, marketing and product development team that now runs Titan Global Commerce, marketer of Epoq-branded TVs in North America, and formerly worked with Luce- and Helios-branded LCD TVs. The team will continue to operate both Trans Global Consulting and Titan Global Commerce as separate operations.

Daniel Sparrow, TGC's principal, said Hisense is looking to build a major presence in the United States with flat-panel and rear-projection television products and set-top boxes. Plans are to offer products to a wide range of distribution channels, from leading mass merchants to custom and home theater installation specialists.

Currently, TGC is selling Hisense-branded plasma and LCD TVs to the Shop At Home Network and Tiger Direct, Sparrow said.

TGC will also assist Hisense in product design and technology, and will help with sales and distribution to retail and OEM/ODM accounts in North America.

Initial product lines will include a line of fully integrated LCD TVs with screen sizes: 20 inches, 26 inches, 32 inches, 37 inches, 42 inches and 55 inches. A 37W-inch fully integrated model ships in September at $1,999 suggested retail price.

Additionally, the company is also offering HD plasma displays in the 42W-inch and 50W-inch screen sizes. All plasma models feature integrated analog and digital tuners, DVI/HDCP inputs and high-definition resolution. A 42W-inch fully integrated model ships in October at $2,199.

Select step-up LCD and plasma models will also include USB inputs and JPEG image viewers to play still digital images on the display screen, Sparrow said. In the near future, the company will introduce large-screen, rear-projection DLP TVs.

Sparrow said the company's strategy is to offer products with tier-one performance levels at price points that are competitive with aggressive Asian TV competitors.

Strong points of the Hisense product line include Faroudja DCDi video processing in select models, 3:2 pull down and ATSC tuners in larger screen sizes. The company will introduce flat-panel HDTV sets with digital-cable-ready capability in forthcoming lines, Sparrow said.

In addition to televisions Hisense is noted as a manufacturer of mobile phones, major appliances and network IT devices. TGC can be reached at (561) 241-8084.