LCD flat panel TV leader, with plasma distant second

LCD will continue to enforce its position as flat panel technology leader in coming years, according to Japanese industry research released yesterday.

Demand for flat panel televisions is expected to more than double to 180 million units by 2012, driven by strong sales in China and the United States, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association (JEITA) said.

Demand for liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs is likely to reach 155 million units in five years, up from 74.8 million sold in 2007, while plasma sales will likely total 25 million units in 2012, compared with 11.4 million sold last year, the group said.

The forecasts are based on expected demand from 51 nations, but they should represent the majority of global demand since all major countries are included in the study, a JEITA spokesman said.


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Apple TV upgrade sweet, but rental terms rankle

NEW YORK -- Tremble, cable: Apple has its sights on you. Tremble, Netflix: Silicon Valley's brightest is out to get you, too.

The latest incarnation of Apple TV, a white box the size of a hardback book that connects to your TV, is an attractive alternative to the usual ways we get our video content, even if it still has room for improvement.

When it launched in March last year, Apple TV was mainly a way for users to get their iTunes content to play on the TV. You could buy movies on the computer, then transfer them to Apple TV, a slow process and hardly worth it. The movies were expensive and of poor visual quality.

A few months later, Apple Inc. gave the box direct access to YouTube videos, instantly making it more entertaining.

The latest software update, which arrived last week, takes Apple TV to a whole new level: It can now download rented movies directly from iTunes, with no need to involve the home computer.


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Panasonic's High-Value High-Def TV

As king of the plasma TV market, Panasonic has plenty to prove these days. Faced with an onslaught of competition from the rival LCD (liquid-crystal display) camp, Panasonic executives have been working hard to dispel any claims their products are somehow inferior to the best LCD offerings. .


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11 new Sony BRAVIA LCD TVs in F1, J1, V1 and M1 Series

Sony announces today 11 new BRAVIA LCD TV sets in Japan.

The new Sony BRAVIA LCD TVs feature improved feature set and performance. Sony adopted recycled plastic materials and lowered the power consumption to make the new LCD TVs shine in "Green".

The new Sony BRAVIA LCD TV models include KDL-46F1 (photo), KDL-40F1, KDL-32F1, KDL-52V1, KDL-46V1, KDL-40V1, KDL-32J1, KDL-26J1, KDL-20J1, KDL-20M1 and KDL-16M1.
Sony launches most of the new BRAVIA TVs in March and the V1 series in April.
Via this Sony press-release (Japanese).

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LCD TV Shipments Outstrip CRTs

For the first time, shipments of LCD TVs surpassed the number of traditional CRT TVs, market research firm DisplaySearch said this week.

LCD shipments rose 41 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 versus the third quarter, and by 56 percent year over year. In total, 28.5 million LCD TVs were sold, which represented a 47 percent market share versus a 46 percent share for CRT TVs. In all of 2007, 79.3 million LCD TVs were sold, the firm said.

LCD TVs have become more popular, with consumers choosing them over CRTs largely because of their form factor, and because the LCD technology used can take advantage of economies of scale. Plasma TVs, while trailing LCDs in terms of units sold, also make up a sizeable percentage, and are currently considered a better value .

The DisplaySearch figures represent the firm's final tallies for 2007.


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Faulty flatscreen TVs starting house fires

Televisions were found to have ignited almost 70 house fires in the past five years, with more than half of those causing extensive damage. But other appliances, including heaters and clothes dryers, contributed to a much larger proportion of the 5251 fires started by electrical equipment in the period. Surfers Paradise fire station officer Mark Gribble said a flatscreen television left in stand-by mode was the cause of a house fire at Mermaid Waters last week. When fire crews arrived, the house was heavily smoke-logged to waist height and flames were coming out of the window. The house was smoke damaged leaving the owner with a clean up bill likely to run into thousands. Last year, thousands of German-made Loewe television sets were recalled in Australia because of the potential fire risk.


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Commentary: PDP TV players not giving up the fight

Based on global flat panel TV shipments in 2007, LCD TV makers enjoyed a stunning landslide victory, with their total LCD TV shipments (72 million units) outclassing PDP TV shipments (12 million units) by a large amount. In addition, shipments of 40-inch class LCD TVs outstripped shipments of the same class PDP TVs. In line with such results it is not surprising that the number of PDP TV makers has greatly declined over the past couple of years, with some makers such as Sony and Toshiba discontinuing their PDP TV business so that they can focus solely on the production of LCD TVs.

Understandably, rumors had been circulating that Matsushita Electronic was planning to abandon its plans to establish a fifth PDP plant in Japan. However, both Matsushita and Hitachi recently indicated their flat panel TV roadmaps, which show they are determined not to abandon PDP technology.


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