Berlin Fair Shows Flat-Panel TVs Doing Well – Last week’s IFA electronics show in Berlin, which unlike CES invites the general public to attend, was dominated by both the LCD and plasma variety of flat-screen displays. A Sharp official admitted that sales did slump in the last quarter of last year, but this year the market has recovered as if that blip had never happened. The world market for LCD TVs is expected to be about what was forecasted a year ago: 127 million units, or an annual sales growth of 22%. For comparison, back in the days when bulkly CRT TVs were the norm, manufacturers sold about 71 million units a year. TV sales have been depressed in some parts of Europe, but are again booming in Germany, as people cut back on expensive holidays and dining out and instead spend on making their home a more agreeable place to hang out.
Growing Demand for Large LCD TVs – According to DisplaySearch shipment of LCD TVs in July reaches 49.2 million units, up 39% year on year. The two biggest shippers of large LCD panels were LG and Samsung. Large-size LCD revenues reaches $5.9 billion, up 6% on year, and the first time in the past 12 months that there was positive yearly growth. In terms of area, large-size LCD shipments reached 7.4 million square meters in July – up 45% on year, the largest amount yet.
Slow Adoption of Blu-ray Drives in PCs – Although many Blu-ray decks are selling well and prices are falling, computer makers have been very slow to include the (6 times greater) storage-rich Blu-ray technology in their products, according to a report from iSuppli. BD compatibility is found in only 3.6% of PCs shipped this year. A senior analyst for iSuppli attributes Blu-ray’s slow ascent to three factors: Cost, still a limited number of HD films available, and the fact that the higher-definition image and better audio quality of Blu-rays are not going to be noticeable on the small screen and tiny speakers of a PC. Rumors are that the next introduction of new Apple products may include some Blu-ray Macintoshes.
Sony Losing Customers Despite New Products – In the past the Sony name stood for quality, but today in an effort to cut costs the company has moved to third party manufacturers in China, Taiwan and Malaysia to make their products, after global cost cutting has seen the shutting down of Sony factories and tens of thousands of employees let go. In January, 16,000 jobs were eliminated and 57 factories closed. No longer sporting a Made in Japan sticker, Sony’s new products raise serious questions about whether the brand is worth the premium sticker price. LG, Samsung and Panasonic are now the leaders in flat panel TV sales, and in the camera market Sony has slipped to No. 5, while also struggling in the PC and notebook market.
Google is Discussing a Streaming Movie Service with Hollywood – Now that Google owns YouTube, it is trying to make a deal to use it to launch new TV and movie services direct to IP-enabled TVs, mobile phones, PCs and notebooks. The huge search engine company is in discussions with major movie studios to secure contracts to allow them to stream movies for a fee, selling advertising around the movies. If successful, Google will be going head to head with Apple’s service, selling DVD-release movies as soon as they come out for as low as $3.99. This will also be a blow to Blockbuster, who is currently trying to launch their own movie streaming services.
