U.S. consumers looking to buy a 3DTV during the next year plan to spend over 50% more than those buying a regular HDTV, with over 11% planning to buy one next year. According to Strategy Analytics, those early entertainment adopters will spend 56% more in the U.S than for a regular HDTV. That price is expected to average $1224 for a 3DTV compared with $785 for a HDTV.
Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. have begun talks on what would be Japan’s biggest ever domestic merger, three sources say, heralding a long-awaited shake-up of the nation’s sprawling industrial behemoths.
Exclusives
As prices drop, nearly one-quarter of U.S. homes are projected to have a 3D-capable set by 2015, according to SNL Kagan. The projected 21% penetration would be up from about 2% (1.8 million) at the end of this year.
A former Apple executive says the company is teaming up with a major OEM to sell iOS-powered, Apple-branded displays later this year or next.
TOKYO (AP) — Panasonic Corp., which faces a tough road this year after Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, believes it can turn disaster into opportunity as the country rethinks […]
Global 3D TV Market To Grow 5-Fold In 2011
Nielsen reports that 96.7% of American households now own sets, down from 98.9%. The decrease is the first in 20 years. There are two reasons for the decline, according to Nielsen. One is poverty, the other is technological innovation, with many young people watching on laptops and opting to forego set ownership.
Samsung Electronics Suffers Fall In 1Q Earnings
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics has suffered a sharp fall in first quarter earnings, hit by weakness in its liquid crystal display business and price competition in tablet […]
The Roku XD player — an $80 set-top that lets users stream video from Netflix and other services over broadband pipes — is now available for purchase at Best Buy stores nationwide and at BestBuy.com. The unit is a 5-by-5-by-1-inch box that provides support for up to 1080p HD streaming support and includes 802.11n Wi-Fi.
In just a year, 3D has gone from the cutting edge of television technology to a simple feature in the 2011 models that are rolling into stores. But that hasn’t stopped a war of words between Samsung and LG, the two biggest TV makers.
A massive new consumer group will be led by Kazuo Hirai, a rising executive who has overseen a recovery in Sony’s video game business. The move likely sets the stage for him to one day take over for current CEO Howard Stringer.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — LG Electronics says competition is heating up in the global battle to woo viewers to 3D TVs. And the South Korean company thinks it has […]
Apple’s recent investment of $3.9 billion in components is likely for device displays ranging from the iPhone to the 27-inch iMac, and could signal Apple’s intention to build a television set up to 50 inches in size, investment firm Piper Jaffray believes.
Hitachi Quarterly Profit Almost Triples
Sony Profit Falls 8.6% On Strong Yen
TOKYO (AP) — Sony’s quarterly profit dropped 8.6 percent as a strong yen and falling TV prices erased the boost the Japanese electronics and entertainment company got from its hit […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest manufacturer of computer memory chips and flat screen televisions, said net profit rose 13 percent in the fourth quarter amid […]
DVRs Approaching Critical Mass, Finally
As far as important industry milestones go, the one announced late Tuesday by Interpublic’s Magna Global unit, that DVRs are finally poised to reach the 50% mark — a level often thought of as critical mass for a mass medium like television — may seem a bit anticlimactic, and just goes to show that big industrial shifts sometimes are more evolutionary, than they are revolutionary.
LG Electronics Posts $229 Million Quarterly Loss
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — LG Electronics reported its first quarterly loss in nearly two years as prices for flat screen televisions fell and devices like the iPhone provided stiff […]
Shapiro’s Blind Spot: Broadcast TV Innovation
Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association, uses his new book, The Comeback, to argue the importance of taking spectrum away for TV broadcasters and giving it to broadband providers. What he totally misses or ignores in his arguments is that broadcasters are moving rapidly to use their spectrum to introduce mobile DTV, a service that, by any definition, is innovative and, given the quality of the programming, more important than many of wireless gimcracks and geegaws shown at CES.
If CES 2011 is any indication of the future of the TV viewing experience, it appears that the days of TV sets that deliver only crystal-clear images will go the way of a wired telephone handset that delivers only crystal-clear sound.
CES press-conference day featured plenty of new product announcements, and, while “smart” TVs may have been a consistent hot topic, the 3D announcements suggested that 3D has some staying power. And a number of innovations are proving that some of the gating factors, such as expensive glasses, may eventually be a thing of the past.
Sony Plans IPTV Hookup With TWC
Time Warner Cable will deliver its entire video programming lineup to customers with Sony’s Internet-connected Bravia HDTVs this year.
Manufacturers don’t plan to completely supplant the 3D TVs that require the heavier, battery-powered glasses, which went on sale last year for the first time.
Apple Inc. It won’t be at the International Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off this week in Las Vegas, but its tablet computer, the iPad, is the most important new product for an industry that needs to once again excite consumers. But nearly every other company in the industry will be there for CES, which runs Thursday to Sunday
