[opendtv] Re: Barriers eroding to LCD TV adoption
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 07:17:53 -0400
At 2:39 PM -0400 7/9/04, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>
>> The fact that some cheap boxes have been sold has little to do with
>> the fact that the cost for adding multiple Demods to new TVs is still
>> hovering around $300...or more.
>
>No, Craig, it's no use insisting. The *cost* of these built-in demods
>is *not* $300 or anything close to that. The *price* they are charging
>might be, for the time being.
Sorry, I guess I should have said "cost to the consumer." Obviously
there is a difference between cost to the manufacturer and what the
cosnumer will pay.
>
>> Clearance prices on obsolete inventory are not an indication of real
>> costs.
>
>These are not clearance prices of obsolete anything. The *cost* of
>brand new built-in front ends is less than $100 today. And Tom already
>told us what the price of a new, non-sale USDTV STB is.
Not true. The cost of the USDTV box is not known exactly, but it is
being heavily subsidized (about half the COST is being paid by the
manufacturer). USDTV makes nothing on the box; without the subsidies,
the USDTV box would sell for at least $300 at retail.
>
>The clearance price of obsolete ATSC boxes last Christmas was probably
>$199, since that was what we saw at Circuit City. New boxes were
>$299 on up. But these things are changing fast, *and* those prices
>belonged to stand-alone boxes, which command a 2:1 premium at least
>over the built-in variety.
If things are changing so fast, why is it still nearly impossible to
find stand-alone ATSC receivers? And what's with this 2:1 premium for
a standalone box versus integration. The case and power supply are
not 50% of the cost of these boxes...nowhere near. The reality is
that the STB approach is probably cheaper today because of the huge
manufacturing volumes versus integrated receivers. There are more
than 40 MILLION digital STBs in use in the U.S. that support SDTV.
There are perhaps another million that are HD/ATSC capable. There are
at best, a few hundred thousand integrated receivers.
Regards
Craig
>
>Bert
>
>
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