more than $270 million losses following falling sales of plasma video
displays and DVD recorders. Pioneer stock fell 3%; analysts feel
that the company’s decision to support mainly plasma displays is
being pounded by a new generation of LCD and DLP technologies. Rivals
Samsung, Panasonic and LG Electronics have bigger production facilities
and are increasingly competitive.
NEC in Trouble – NEC Electronics Corporation, the eighth-largest
microchip maker, has had a quarterly loss due to a fall in sales of
cell phone chips. Mobile phone shipments in Japan fell from a year
earlier due to market saturation. Shares in the company fell 16%
following the loss warning. The company stated that demand, including
replacement demand, for personal computers and cell phones has turned
flat, and digital home electronics such as cameras and DVD recorders
are growing more slowly.
DVDs, Music and Home Electronics High on Holiday Shopping Lists –
MyPoints.com shopping website did a recent survey of members and has
released a list of categories which their shoppers will be buying in
for holiday gifting. Clothing was No. 1 on the list, but No. 3 was DVDs
and Videos, No. 9 was Music and No. 10 was Home Electronics.
Dolby Delivers Largest Sale of Loudness Meters – Research
conducted by Dolby Laboratories indicates that TV viewers often suffer
loudness variance of 15 dB or more between programming, required them
to adjust their volume to suit each program [or commercials…Ed.].
Loudness variations are currently one of the top complaints by viewers.
Dolby just delivered 87 of their LM100 Broadcast Loudness Meters to
Discovery Communications, which has integrated them into their
postproduction and quality control suites throughout the U.S. The LM100
simplifies audio level measurement with a technology called Dialogue
Intelligence. It measures the perceived loudness of dialogue within
broadcast programs and presents the results in an easy-to-understand
numerical format. [Now if the industry would just correct the frequent
mismatches of “lip sync” in both telecasts and DVDs, we might be
getting to audio nirvana…Ed.]
