Pioneer made top-of-the-line plasma HDTVs when it exited the television business. It was known for its Elite brand, which was sold through professional AV retailers. Sharp has now decided to resurrect the brand and license it for its own LCD HDTVs. Pioneer will still use the brand on its home theater products and Blu-ray players.
Presumably, [...]
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HDTV Almanac - Sharp Goes for Elite Line
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alfredpoor
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720pete
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Sharp adopts the Elite brand
No more Kuro, that's dead.wallaua wrote:Does Elite include Kuro ? Didn't Pioneer sell these brands and the technology they had developed for them to Panasonic ?
Sharp actually OEM'ed plasma monitors from Pioneer about 10 years ago for a brief while. They were all aimed at the CEDIA (high end) market. At the time, Sharp didn't have any flat panel displays in a 50 or 60 inch size.
Sharp's decline in LCD TV market share is a real mystery. 5 years ago, they were #1 and consistently occupied the top 3 positions with 15 - 20% market share for several years after that. Once VIZIO started grabbing market share, both Sharp and LG suffered. (LG is having a terrible year financially, at least Sharp will end the current fiscal year in the black.) And Sony, who doesn't even manufacture LCD panels, but buys them from Samsung and Chinese manufacturers, continues to hold the #3 spot in terms of TV sales.
When you are the company who brought the first LCD TVs to market, and your market share (2.9% in Q3) has now fallen behind even Panasonic - who sells mostly plasma, but LCD TVs as well in sizes at 42 inches and down - then you know things have gone really bad. One local retailer is about to drop Sharp from their line as they don't get any requests for that brand.
It's a real puzzle. And Alfred is right, it is a fool's errand to depend on high-end TV sales these days when there is little activity at the high end. Notice that Ultimate Electronics just went into its second bankruptcy, and that Best Buy is off on TV sales (and that includes their Magnolia high-end division).
Toshiba is likely the next company to reach the point of no return with LCD TV sales. They used to average 7 - 8 % market share, and the last numbers I saw for 2010 had them in the 4% range. Pioneer dropped out when they fell below 4% share.
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jordanm
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The rumor is the Kuro is dead, as Panasonic can't figure out how to do it at a competitive price point.
The Sharp Elites will all be LCD or LED/LCD.
I am so glad I have a PRO-151FD. New as of April 2010, I hope it lasts years and years. Coming from one whose PRO150FD died shy of its two year warranty, ergo a 151FD replacement, I am not that confident, it will. But in the meantime, it is great!
The Sharp Elites will all be LCD or LED/LCD.
I am so glad I have a PRO-151FD. New as of April 2010, I hope it lasts years and years. Coming from one whose PRO150FD died shy of its two year warranty, ergo a 151FD replacement, I am not that confident, it will. But in the meantime, it is great!