HDTV Expert - Toshiba TVs: A Fade to Black?

[720pete]

Pioneer was the first to go. Then, Hitachi followed. Will Toshiba be the next company to exit the television business in the United States?

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[film11]

Well, Toshiba has announced that they are working on 3D technology that will provide 3D images WITHOUT glasses for their Cell series...possibly available by year's end! So that doesn't sound like they are leaving the market, does it? In fact, prototypes of the process were seen at CES and the result was exceptional, at least as reported by this very site! Toshiba has always been an innovator...I still maintain that HD-DVD was superior to BD and it's a shame that they were torpedoed the very same day they were going to unveil the 51gb backwards compatible HD-DVD disc. Oh, for what could have been! If the no-glasses-required 3D Cell TVs deliver as well as HD-DVD did, it will certainly be the next TV I purchase.

[720pete]

It's not about technology. There are plenty of clever companies that have exhibited amazing technological prowess. Hitachi was one of them - I visited their Advanced Technology Labs in Tokyo back in 2003. They were an innovator in plasma TV and a major investor in technology.

Today? Gone from the TV business, done in by economics. The same thing happened to Pioneer.

Toshiba announced last year they were getting out of the small-size TFT LCD panel manufacturing business for similar reasons. It's all about the dollars these days. If you can't compete with Taiwan and Chinese LCD manufacturers on price and yields, you haven't much of a future. And since Toshiba does NOT control the manufacturing of their large LCD panels for TVs, that puts them at the mercy of their LCD panel suppliers and competitors like Samsung and LG.

Their market share has been steadily declining the past two years, but a 30% drop Y-Y in shipments is the biggest decline I've seen yet. And they are slipping into "Other" territory (below 5% market share) where it's hard to stay profitable. Your brands just don't get the shelf space at major retailers.

The bigger story, and one I will pursue through my Display Daily reports, is the drop of Sharp's market share to below 3%. Wow! Going back through my market share reports, I see that Sharp had nearly 14% of the worldwide LCD TV business back in 2007. Now, they are also disappearing into no man's land.

TV technology fans need to understand that having the coolest products or the best performance guarantees NOTHING in terms of success. It's all about managing and promoting the brand, getting shelf space, keeping costs down, and staying profitable while carefully balancing panel demand with Tv shipments. Toshiba is clearly struggling in this area. The numbers don't lie.

[film11]

Oh, I don't dispute the numbers. But also remember, the biggest complaint about 3D is the need for glasses. If they can produce sets that offer great 3D without the glasses and get them in stores by the holidays, consumers MIGHT just be swayed by that aspect. I'm rooting for them!

[David120166]

If companies want to succeed at the Television business they need to learn to offer both entry level models and high end models. Sony and Samsung have done this and now they rule the market.