[opendtv] News: Electronics industry battles for the living room
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:38:45 -0500
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=3Dmtfh186=
91_2004-12-31_21-37-10_n31608570_newsml=20
Electronics industry battles for the living room
=46ri Dec 31, 2004 04:37 PM ET
By Eric Auchard and Ben Berkowitz
SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The=20
living room, once the most technologically simple=20
part of the average home, is today a high-tech=20
battleground as the consumer electronics industry=20
seeks to digitize home entertainment and make it=20
available anywhere, anytime.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) starting on=20
Thursday in Las Vegas will set the agenda of=20
what's in store in 2005 for the digital=20
home-owner -- from ultra-high-definition=20
television screens to music and video recorders=20
and other networked appliances.
The four-day conference, the high-tech industry's=20
largest annual gathering in the United States,=20
will draw 120,000 technologists and retailers for=20
a vast display of devices, from 102-inch-wide=20
flat-panel TVs -- the world's biggest -- to=20
postage-stamp-size hard-disks for music players=20
or phones.
"The big trends are home improvement,=20
in-your-pocket-entertainment and personal video=20
choice," said Richard Dougherty of Envisioneering=20
Group in Seaford, New York.
Home improvement refers to the increasingly=20
affordable home-theater systems that combine flat=20
panel displays, surround-sound audio and personal=20
video recorders.
"Home theaters have gone from luxury status to,=20
'Hey, I can afford this in my apartment!'=20
status," Dougherty said.
COMING SOON
In recent years, the Consumer Electronics Show=20
has seen an explosion of innovation from=20
computerized wristwatches to satellite radios and=20
Internet-enabled ovens to digital frying pans.
Not everything that makes a splash at CES=20
actually makes it to store shelves, though. One=20
notable example: Intel Corp.'s much-hyped=20
announcement last year that it would enter the=20
television display business, only to cancel the=20
project a few months later.
But for every failure there are many successes,=20
and fueling demand for all these nifty gadgets,=20
even once-costly flat-panel television screens,=20
has been a steady decline in prices.
=46lat-panel TVs with 32-inch screens are selling=20
for under $1,500, putting pressure on name-brand=20
TV makers who still sell similar models for=20
$3,000 or more, said industry analyst Ross Young.
At CES, Samsung, Toshiba and RCA will be among=20
those showing the first true, 1086-pixel=20
high-definition flat-panel TV screens, he said.=20
These crunch more picture elements closer=20
together to create sharper resolution images.
At stake here is a chunk of the flat-panel=20
television market, which is expected to grow to=20
$15 billion in 2005 from $10 billion, according=20
to DisplaySearch estimates.
VHS VS. BETAMAX, ROUND TWO?
Stephen Baker, of research firm NPD in Port=20
Washington, New York, said rival camps of=20
manufacturers will square off at the show over=20
the next-generation DVD video standard -- a=20
replay of the Betamax vs. VHS videocassette wars=20
of the 1970s. At stake is the future of the home=20
video industry, increasingly crucial to=20
Hollywood's bottom line.
Young, president of industry forecaster=20
DisplaySearch of Austin, Texas, said that with=20
major Hollywood studios taking sides, consumers=20
face having to choose between one of two=20
incompatible next-generation DVD formats.
Consumers also face potential confusion as new=20
home entertainment appliances incorporate=20
features that once were sold as separate devices.
=46lat panel displays may include a personal video=20
recorder, or come with an insertable access card=20
for cable television, instead of a cable=20
converter set-top box, reducing living room=20
clutter.
While the focus remains in the living room, also=20
on display will be hot mobile gadgets aimed at=20
the car, air travel and pretty much anywhere a=20
plug is not readily available.
Absent from the event, however, will be the=20
creators of the electronics industry's biggest=20
hit product -- the iPod music player and Apple=20
Computer Inc., which holds its own annual=20
conference in San Francisco the following week.
Scores of companies at CES will seek to chip away=20
at the franchise Apple has created with its sleek=20
hard drives, which can store photos and act as a=20
voice recorder, in addition to being a music=20
player. (Additional reporting by Franklin Paul in=20
New York)
=A9 Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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