UPDATE 1-Pou Chen units win $46.7 mln in import lawsuit

(Adds comment from defendants' attorney, background)

LOS ANGELES, April 14 (Reuters) - Two subsidiaries of Taiwan manufacturer Pou Chen Corp (9904.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) have won a $46.7 million verdict against their partner in a joint venture to supply computers and other electronic components to Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

The verdict was handed down late Friday by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury against MTS Products Inc of Los Angeles and company owner Ben Hsia. Wal-Mart was not a party to the suit, but sent executives to testify in the two-month trial.

Pou Chen subsidiaries BHE Group Inc and GBM International Inc had contracted with MTS to bring their laptop computers, monitors and related electronics into the United States for Wal-Mart in exchange for a commission.

The lawsuit alleged that after Wal-Mart paid for the goods, MTS and Hsia failed to pass on the balance, excluding its commission, to the Pou Chen companies.

MTS and Hsia had filed a countersuit, claiming the goods supplied by Pou Chen were of inferior quality and overpriced. Hsia contended during the trial that he had frozen joint venture bank accounts worth about $28 million until the dispute was resolved.

The jury awarded MTS and Hsia $11 million in lost profits and back salary for Hsia in the countersuit, Hsia's attorney, Stephen Bost, said.

Pou Chen, an industrial holding company, makes more than 30 percent of the world's athletic footwear and also produces electronic components and other products. (Reporting by Gina Keating, editing by Gerald E. McCormick/Jeffrey Benkoe)