Syntax-Brillian announced that it has received an order to supply 15,000 sets of LCoS imagers to Sino-Brillian Display Technology Corp. Production at Sino- Brillian will ramp to ramp to 300,000 units annually.

Sino-Brillian is a joint venture between Syntax-Brillian and China South Industries Group Corp., with Syntax-Brillian holding a minority share. The JV was set up last April specifically to manufacture LCoS light engines, first for the Chinese market and later for the North American and possibly European markets. Presumably, these engines will use the Syntax-Brillian BR1080HC designed for 1080p HDTV operation, although that was not stated in the announcement.

According to Vincent Sollitto, CEO of Syntax-Brillian, "The joint venture is particularly well positioned to serve the demand for LCoS HDTVs in China, which is expected to significantly increase in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in conjunction with initiatives sponsored by the Chinese government to establish rural, communal viewing venues featuring LCoS-based microdisplay televisions."

Separately, Syntax-Brillian announced its Q2 operating results with very good news on the sales side. Revenues for the 3 months ending June 30, 2006 rose to $59.8M, up 162% from the same period in 2005. Full year revenue was also up 134% to $193M, from the year ended June 30, 2005.

Even though sales were up significantly, they also announced that the company posted a net loss of $5.5M for the period ending June 30, 2006, compared with net losses of $382,000 for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2005. Net losses for the year ending June 30, 2006 was $18.9M, compared with net loss of $17,000 in the previous fiscal year.

Philips Consumer Electronics used to have an expression “we lose $5 on every set we ship, but we make up our losses on volume.” Keep in mind this is still a relatively new company as the Syntax-Brillian merger was only announced last July and completed late last November. Hopefully, time and increasing volume will mean a turnaround in profits for the company. –MB

For an expanded version of this article, see the September issue of Projection Monthly