Insight’s Daily Outlook

Every weekday morning, Insight Media’s Steve Sechrist and Ken Werner have a conference call with Jamie Townsend and Alex Hamilton of IM’s financial analysis partner, Townhall Proprietary Research. We screen the news of the display and consumer electronics industries, and we figure out what matters and how to use it. We do this to help in our editorial process and to support Townhall’s analysis on the financial impact of the news. Now, we’re sharing those insights with a wider community.

Our goal is to simply – and very briefly – tell you what we think is interesting or important from today’s headlines. This is your opportunity to see how we look at events each day and how we judge their impact. It is your chance to get an early jump-start on an important event – with a little guidance from the experts at Insight Media.

Welcome to Insight Media’s Daily Outlook.

Ken Werner
203-831-8464
kwerner@insightmedia.info

As Rear-Projection TV Moves Up-market, Makers Explore Options

by Steve Sechrist and Ken Werner

Ken Werner
Senior Analyst and Editor
of Insight Media's Display Watch

Steve Sechrist
Projection Industry and
Editorial Expert

December 07, 2005 - Last week, our friends at Pacific Media Associates reported rear-projection TV (RPTV) sales and revenues for October. Unit sales were down 2.7% from September, but revenues were up 3%. Why? ASP was up 5.5% on the month because sales were migrating to 1080p and to larger screen sizes. As a percentage of sales, 1080p models accounted for 13% in August, 24% in September, and 32% in October!

We anticipated this transition. RPTV is the only way to get large-screen (50-inches-plus), Full HD at a reasonable price, while the prices of direct-view flat-panel TVs in the 32- to 42-inch range are plummeting, spurring excellent sales. So the move up-market was inevitable for RPTV, but that move implies an ongoing reduction in unit sales. But how will RPTV makers respond to this pressure?

InFocus has left the RPTV business (Projection Monthly, p. 22, December 2005) and, in an as-yet unconfirmed Displaybank story (www.displaybank.com), it was reported today that LG Electronics would also bow out of the business in 2006, saying that the high inventory and marketing costs could not be justified for a segment that accounts for only 5% of the market. On the other hand, Samsung and Sony have increased their commitments to the segment, with Sony boasting the two top-selling RPTV models in the North American market, according to Pacific Media. If the LGE portion of this story is confirmed, it spells trouble for projection-chip-and-engine maker SpatiaLight, whose main customer is LGE.

< Previous | Archive | Next >

To order your free subscription to Insight's Daily Outlook!, please go to: /ido.php

About Insight Media

Insight Media (www.insightmedia.info) provides a full array of market research, news, analysis and consulting services for the display industry, with special attention to projection products. Tracking the complete supply chain from components to finished products and the distribution channels, Insight Media follows technologies, markets, business and trends in displays and display-related application markets. Broad coverage is offered through our newsletters and conferences with in-depth analysis available via our reports and consulting services. Insight Media has a world-class team of industry analysts and associates to provide comprehensive coverage and analysis of the display industry.

To be removed from the Insight Media News list, please click here.