Like the rest of the world, China is experiencing extreme price drops for liquid crystal display televisions (LCD-TVs), spurring a shipment increase of by 32 percent to 3.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to iSuppli Corp.

Aggressive pricing, increased consumer interest and commitments from LCD panel makers have prompted television OEMs in China to push the technology, despite declining profit margins. With the strong growth in the global demand for LCD-TVs, China's exports of such television are on the rise. However, Chinese manufacturers face challenges in their export activities, including anti-dumping charges, royalty payments and tariffs in certain regions of the world.

The good news is that these are the exact same problems Chinese domestic companies have dealt with for years with CRT televisions, and because of this they are not repeating some of the same mistakes they have made in the past with CRT TVs and are seeking to avoid making these missteps again.

Chinese LCD-TV market revenue is forecast to grow to $22.6 billion by 2011, expanding at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 24.6 percent from $7.5 billion in 2006, according to iSuppli. Total Chinese LCD-TV unit shipments--including both domestic and export shipments--will reach 55.4 million units by 2011, achieving a CAGR of 39.8 percent, up from 10.4 million units shipped in 2006.