For PC-makers, which already sell flat-panel monitors, diversifying into TVs is no big leap.
So too are computer makers such as Dell and Gateway, which already sell LCD computer monitors and are attracted by the fatter margins in consumer electronics.
The opportunity has arisen because telecoms operators around the world are moving into television.They are doing so mainly because cable operators have started to offer voice services (often bundled with broadband access and television service into a "triple play" package), so the telecoms operators, which already sell telephony and broadband, are responding by adding television too.
Clive Vaughan, an analyst at Verdict, another retail consultancy, says that this is good news only for some: supermarkets, for example, are using their extra floor space to muscle into new markets such as books, CDs and videos, putting pressure on stores, such as W.H. Smith, which already sell these.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry's trade group, estimates that American drug companies, which already sell about $700 million worth of drugs to China, could increase sales by more than $100 million in the first year if China, as promised, cut tariffs by 60percentt.
The real challenge is to compete against multibillion-dollar giants like IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Computer Associates, which already sell network management tools to large corporations.
Back to Apple, which already sells music videos alongside audio tracks on its iTunes Store.
But Tenex, which already sells blended-down weapons uranium through USEC, could also sell newly enriched uranium, he said.
Inamed, which already sells other wrinkle fillers, will compete with the Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation's Restylane, which was approved in December.
VMWare, which already sells small-scale network virtualization, works with young switch vendors like Arista on building extremely large data centers.
But the Estée Lauder Companies, which already sells 12 of its 28 cosmetics brands in China, is taking that concept further: adding an entirely new brand.
