ViewSonic Execs Expect Monitor Prices To Stabilize

Jeff Volpe, ViewSonic's vice president of sales for the Americas, also said pressure on the Walnut, Calif.-based display manufacturer to increase incentives for solution providers has continued unabated, leading it to develop new strategies such as leasing and financing programs.

ViewSonic launched its Lease++program three weeks ago with partner GE Express Financial, against the backdrop of an LCD market that is showing significant year-over-year growth.

"We have seen exponential growth in our LCD sales," Volpe said in an interview at the XChange conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., which is sponsored by CMP Media, the parent company of CRN. "As price erosion continues, we have seen the adoption of a spectrum of [display] sizes. Price performance of LCDs in the last year has improved."

For example, solution provider CDW offers 17-inch ViewSonic VE 700 on its Web site for $468, while TigerDirect, a subsidiary of system builder and solution provider Systemax, Port Washington, N.Y., offers a 15-inch ViewSonic VE 510++for $268.

To maintain pace with the channel in an increasingly aggressive segment, ViewSonic has doubled the number of its inside-sales representatives that support its channel partners. The company has also enhanced its PartnerView Web site, a demo unit program for channel partners and a recycle and trade-in program.

Volpe said that effort has continued to pay off in market-share gains in LCDs, even in the face of aggressive competition from rival manufacturers such as Samsung and BenQ, which have both beefed up their channel programs and solution provider incentives this year.

ViewSonic maintains a roster of 8,000 solution providers in its partner program, up about 1,000 from a year ago. Of the 8,000, about 375 are considered top-tier Platinum partners, ViewSonic executives said.