[opendtv] LCoS not dead yet?

["Donald Koeleman" <donald.koeleman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

An extensive report from today's CONSUMER ELECTRONICS DAILY THURSDAY, AUGUST
4, 2005



BTW, has anybody seen that new Mitshubishi 73 inch 1080p DLP tv that hit the
US last month? What does that one cost and how does it look, is LG right
when they say LCoS provides clearly higher image quality?



d.



Promotions to Differentiate LCoS vs. DLP

LG to Ship 71W LCoS Sets in Nov., With 56W Model to Follow in 2006

LG will ship a 71W LCoS rear-projection TV in Nov. and follow in early 2006
with a 56W model, expanding

a product line that includes DLP, LCD and plasma, CE Mktg. Vp Sam Kim told
Consumer Electronics Daily.

While pricing hasn't been set, the TVs, which will contain three 0.73" LCoS
panels with 1,920x1080p resolution,

will carry only a slight premium over similarly featured DLP models, Kim
said. The 71W ships in S. Korea

in Oct. SpatiaLight, which developed the LCoS display used in the LG sets,
has said it expected retail pricing to

start around $4,400 (CED March 1 p1).

The LCoS TVs will be promoted with a merchandising display designed to
demonstrate the picture quality

differences with DLP, Kim said. LG also is expected to field 52W, 56W and
62W DLP-based rear projection TVs.

"If the consumer recognizes the difference, they will pay more for that
value and the premium," Kim said.

The delivery of the LCoS sets will be a major boost for SpatiaLight, which
has struggled to bring its microdisplays

to market. It signed a series of agreements with Chinese manufacturers
several years ago including Skyworth

Digital and Shanghai Video, none of which has produced volume shipments.
Under a 2-year agreement, LG

has agreed to purchase 21,000 chipsets over a 6-month period that began
earlier this year. The wafers for the microdisplays

are being manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Corp. (TSMC) using a
0.35-micron process

and delivered to SpatiaLight's new assembly plant in Ginsa, S. Korea.

The LCoS technology will likely be concentrated on the 60" and up TV screen
sizes with plasma and

LCD models increasingly dominating the 52W and under market, LG Sales &
Channel Mktg. Vp Robert Perry

said. Plasma's position in the market will be strengthened by the expected
emergence of "breakthrough pricing"

this fall in 50W, Perry said. "If you look at the distribution of the rear
projection TV business and you

look at it by any screen size, that 52W and below category is at pretty
serious risk from plasma and LCD,"

Perry said. "I believe that next year the microdisplay market will be
substantially smaller because plasma and

LCD are going to carve out most of that volume."

Perry declined comment on expected pricing this fall. Sourecs, however, have
indicated that tier 1 brand

50W HD plasma TVs could hit $3,999 this fall, while 42W moves to $1,999.
Perry denied rumors that LG was

readying a 42W ED plasma set that would retail for $1,499. "I don't know
where that is coming from, but I can tell

you it's not a fact," Perry said. "We're not doing it and I don't have and
desire to be there."

In flat-panels, LG will ship a 71W plasma set in Sept., having postponed the
planned May introduction to resolve "technical issues," Kim said. The 71W,
which has 1,920x1080p resolution, will retail for more than

$15,000 and serve as an extension of a line that also includes 60W ($14,999)
and 50W ($7,999) models that

contain 160 GB hard drives. The latter model was being promoted on Circuit
City's Web site on Wed. afternoon

at $5,499 after $500 in instant savings. LG will add a 55W LCD TV ($15,000)
in Oct. with

1,920x1,080p resolution, 1,200:1 contrast ratio and 500 candelas.

As LG extends flat-panel and microdisplay TVs offerings, it's winding down
an assortment of 4 CRT-based

rear projection TVs, Kim said. "We still have some models, but it's trailing
off now," he said.

LG, however, will field a slim-depth 30W CRT-based direct-view HDTV by Dec.
at a $100 premium to

standard models, Kim said. LG.Philips Displays developed a 30W tube with a
13.8" depth, reduced from the

standard 20" by increasing the deflection angle to 125 degrees from 95
degrees. Samsung also is marketing a

30W direct-view set ($1,099) with a 13.8" depth. While LG.Philips Displays
has said it plans to shrink the

depth to less than 12" in the future, Kim said the product's future will
hinge on LCD pricing. "If 32W LCD

TVs get to $1,000 this fall we will have to make a decision where we want to
go" with the reduced-depth direct-

view sets, Kim said. LG is assembling plasma and rear projection TVs at its
factory in Reynosa, Mexico,

while LCD TVs are built in Mexicali, company officials said.

While the LG brand has become the company's primary thrust at retail, the
Zenith name, which LG acquired

in buying the company out of bankruptcy protection in 1999, continues to be
affixed mostly to entry-level

product. Best But and Circuit City have marketed Zenith brand home
theater-in-a-box products priced in the $120-

160 range as well as 20" ($569) and 23W ($999) LCD TVs, respectively. "While
we are trying to build LG as a

premium brand, we want Zenith to be available to the broader market," Perry
said. "We're trying to position it not

to be as low as a 3rd-tier brand, but at a 2nd-tier level."

* * * * *

LG has terminated agreements with a handful of dealers since hiring Net
Enforcers in May (CED May 17

p2) to help in rooting out unauthorized sales of branded CE goods on the
Internet, Perry said. Several unauthorized

dealers also ceased sales of LG products before enforcement action was
taken, he said. "It takes a few" dealers to

be terminated "before people get the message," Perry said. Meanwhile, LG,
after moving in 2004 to add a

"substantial number of dealers" has slowed the pace and is shifting to
"solidifying our position," he said. "Our real

growth has come from managing those relationships." LG's N. American
operations reported a 12% increase in

revenues in the first half to $3.6 billion, with CE (68%), home appliances (
22%) and cellphones (31%) all registering

gains, LG Electronics N. America Pres.-CEO Michael Ahn said. The increases
were offset by declines in lowend

microwave and notebook PCs, both of which are being "de-emphasized" this
year, Ahn said. The low-end microwaves

-- mostly sub-$100 models sold under the Goldstar brand through mass
merchants like Wal-Mart -- will

have "marketing support" withdrawn, a spokesman said.

LG gained its first distribution with Circuit City for LCD PC monitors
during the 2nd quarter, company

officials said. The CE chain joins Best Buy in carrying the 80- series
monitors that includes 17" ($400) and

19" ($500) models that can be folded flat to the base. The displays, which
contain display enhancement software

licensed from Portrait Displays, also can be rotated and automatically
self-adjust an image through use of

sensor. LG also has launched sales of its 16x multi-format DVD recorder
($129) for PCs through Sam's Club,

along with a 1 GB flash-drive ($59). The DVD drive has 16x write speeds for
DVD+R and DVD-R;

DVD+RW (8x); DVD-RW (6x); and DVD+dual layer (4x). The agreements represents
LG Electronics' first

major thrust into retail with PC peripherals, having previously sold them
largely for business-to-business applications,

IT Brand Div. Mktg. Dir. Christopher Neff said.

---

LG in Dec. will expand production at its major appliance assembly plant in
Monterrey, Mexico, to include

side-by-side refrigerators, Digital Appliances Pres. Teddy Hwang told us.
The factory, which so far has focused on

making refrigeration products, will become a manufacturing "hub" within 2-3
years for all of LG's appliances destined

for the N. American market, he said. LG currently manufacturers most of its
major appliances in S. Korea.

LG sells its mix of washer/dryers, dish washers, air conditioners, ranges
and refrigerators through 3,500 stores in

the N. America. It has shipped 18 SKUs to 1,300 Home Depot stores since
starting deliveries in June and expects

to reach the chain's 400 remaining outlets by Sept., a spokesman said. Among
the recent additions to LG's dealer

roster for major appliances is Charlotte, N.C.-based Queen City Audio, Video
& Appliances, joining fellow NATM

members Conn's and Grant's Appliance, TV & Audio in carrying the line. -- 
Mark Seavy


 
 
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