Chuntex Electronic Co., Ltd., also known as CTX International, is a Taiwanese computer display manufacturer.

History

Chuntex Electronic Co., Ltd. was founded in 1981. Initially only a domestic manufacturer of

cathode-ray-tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, ...

computer monitors within Taiwan, Chuntex expanded globally in 1986, establishing CTX International—their United States and primary international export subsidiary—that year, placing its headquarters in the

City of Industry, California The City of Industry is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is almost entirely industrial, containing over 3,000 businesses employing 67,000 people, with only 264 residents as of ...

. In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, Chuntex established European offices in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

), employing 75 between them in 2004. Between the late 1980s to the late 1990s, the company acquired several overseas companies in the field of computer monitors and hardware, helping CTX grow to become one of the largest brands and OEM suppliers of monitors. In the early 1990s, they established their Opto subsidiary, which manufactured

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...

monitors and projectors. Chuntex's largest export market in 1995 was the United States (62 percent), compared with Asia (19 percent) and Europe (15 percent). Between fall 1992 and fall 1993, sales in CTX's wares grew from

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

15.5 million to $27.2 million. The company earned US$11.5 million in profit on sales of roughly $250 million in 1998. By 1999, the company had 5,000 employees globally. In August 1994, Chuntex purchased a 51-percent stake in Veridata Electronics, a computer company in Taiwanese, with Chuntex seeking the latter's laptop-manufacturing factory lines and workforce. After acquiring an even larger stake in Veridata, Chuntex then began selling computers branded under their own CTX name, as well as for other computer vendors, such as

CompUSA CompUSA, Inc. was a retailer and reseller of Personal computer, personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one Brick and mortar, brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, ...

in 1996, on an OEM basis. Though CTX was a relatively small name in the personal computer market at the time, the company initially earned a respectable profit from these systems, which included the sub-brands EzNote for their

laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...

s and Nutopia for their

desktop computer A desktop computer, often abbreviated as desktop, is a personal computer designed for regular use at a stationary location on or near a desk (as opposed to a portable computer) due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuratio ...

s. However, in April 1999, the company reported losses equal to roughly half of their market capitalization, which the company attributed in large part to their laptop business. These losses put CTX in the red; in the process, they were the first major Taiwanese company to go bankrupt in 1999. Chuntex shortly after filed for reorganization protection in Taiwan. A few months later, the company announced that they would abandon manufacturing complete computer systems, in favor of focusing solely on monitor production while still selling some systems, albeit built by other companies and rebadged as CTX machines. CTX remains active in Taiwan .

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em 1981 establishments in Taiwan 1986 establishments in California Companies based in Taipei Computer companies established in 1981 Taiwanese brands Computer monitors Computer companies of Taiwan Computer hardware companies