ViewSonic

ViewSonic is committed to meeting and exceeding its customers' expectations in quality, value and innovation. Its ability and dedication to deliver products to the market ahead of its competition remains a primary focus of the company. Unlike some of its competitors, ViewSonic is exclusively devoted to the visual display products business, which enables the company to better focus its resources. Viewsonic partners with Microgobal Argentina SA to distribute its products in South America and acquires the display products unit of Finland's Nokia. The company purchases Advanced Optical Engineering Inc. of California; the new subsidiary is renamed Advanced Digital Optics Inc. ViewSonic Corporation is a leading provider of cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitors, including those for high-end, computer-aided design, desktop publishing, and graphic design, and those offering state-of-the art technology at affordable prices. ViewSonic has six distinct product lines: desktop displays; television/entertainment displays; plasma displays; projectors; mobile and wireless displays; and peripherals, such as speakers, keyboards, and mice. In 1987, James Chu launched Keypoint Technology Corporation, a distribution company that specialized in computer peripherals, such as power supplies, keyboards, and computer monitors. Chu, a native of Taiwan, had held a variety of sales positions before immigrating to the United States in 1986 to become president of United States operations for a Taiwanese keyboard manufacturer. The early 1990s saw a decrease in personal computer prices, a proliferation of high-end workstations, the growing use of graphical interfaces, and increased corporate demand for monitors with lower radiation emissions, higher refresh rates, and better ergonomics. In keeping with the times, in 1990 Keypoint Technologies introduced the ViewSonic brand of color computer monitors in two series, professional and graphics. The monitors were especially suited for Windows, graphical user interfaces, and desktop publishing environments. ViewSonic also introduced its "green" monitor, which conformed to the energy conservation guidelines of the Environmental Protection Agency's Star Program. The company adopted the mission and focus of developing and delivering affordable advanced visual display products and changed its name to ViewSonic. Its new logo, three colorful finches, was intended to symbolize innovation, quality, and value. ViewSonic experienced a steady demand for its monitors, and in 1992 Inc. magazine included the firm in its fastest-growing companies list. A year later, with revenues of just over $100 million, the company began to branch out internationally, joining with Al Ghurair Enterprises for Computers to distribute ViewSonic products in the United Arab Emirates. Further expansion occurred in 1994 both domestically and internationally with the addition of two new regional sales offices in Tampa Bay, Florida, and Chicago, Illinois, and two new European offices, one in Paris and the other in Dusseldorf. During the second half of the 1990s, View Sonic turned its attention to strengthening its European operations in response to increased demand for its color monitors. As part of its bid to become a major player in the European display technology market, it improved its customer, technical, and coordination services throughout Europe, including free, life-time technical support. By 1996, ViewSonic offered the widest range of monitors available from a single manufacturer in the European market, and by 1998 it was undisputedly a European leader in the color monitor market. Growth in ViewSonic's range of products and global distribution was paralleled by increases in its annual revenues and number of employees. Between 1993 and 1997, the company's workforce grew from 84 to more than 600 in number, while revenues increased 716 percent to $830 million. In fact, the increase in revenues from 1996