Bob Willis, president of the US Electronic Components Association (ECA), said its members remain optimistic about the outlook in the face of an uncertain economic climate.
Orders dipped in April, following a roller-coaster pattern that has prevailed over the past six months.
The 12-month average remained relatively flat, according to the monthly index compiled by the ECA.
Yet despite ominous economic news, Willis said his members were upbeat while conceding that growth is unlikely to match that of last year.
He was speaking after this year’s Electronic Distribution Show (EDS), which was held in Las Vegas.
“There is a recognition that growth might be a bit slower than the 6 per cent of last year,” he said. “But almost all manufacturers and distributors still think this will be a pretty good year.”
Author: admin
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US electronic components suppliers upbeat despite economic downturn
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"Hard" media discs in no danger of disappearing despite advances being made in digital downloading
Blu-ray discs and DVDs are going to survive for another 20 years even though great advances are being made in digital downloading.
That is the belief of Reed Hastings, head of NetFlix, the online rental service, who also stated that he doesn’t think a rival physical optical disc will emerge to challenge Blu-ray.
Speaking at an investors meeting, Hastings said on DVD and Blu-ray wouldn’t be replaced by digital downloads and ray Hollywood studios would continue releasing films on disc.
“Our view is that the studios are going to publish DVD and Blu-ray for another 20 years,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be another physical optical disc.”
Hastings said that the DVD/Blu-ray industry would probably not “peak” for 5-10 years.
However, despite his long-term confidence in discs, the executive said the online rental service is aggressively developing online video streaming services.
“We’ve been looking forward to these years for a long time,” said Hastings.
“Our DVD shipments will probably peak in 5 to 10 years … the streaming can be thought of as defensive, protecting our turf, or offensive,” he added.
In the US this month, NetFlix began selling a $99 set-top that enables subscribers to download movies over the Net directly to their TVs.
The company also offers a streaming service at its web site, which is free to subscribers.
Hastings said that NetFlix ultimately could generate 20 million subscribers to video streaming; the company now projects having 10 million DVD subscribers by the end of 2008.
He also said NetFlix is still examining ways to charge more for Blu-ray rentals, an idea floated by the company earlier this year. -
Higher sales of HD devices helps TiVo report soaring Q1 profits
Digital video recorder maker TiVo has reported soaring income for the first quarter of 2008 boosted by higher sales of HD devices and reduced advertising costs.
The California-based company said it earned $3.6 million, or 4 cents per share, for the three months ending April 30.
This is up from a profit of $835,000, or 1 cent per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $54.9 million, down 5.5 per cent from $58.1 million for the same period last year.
Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo, said the most significant activity being worked on to boost stand-alone sales of HD devices was relationships with third parties.
He said tests were begun last quarter with bundling with HDTV set sales.
This was working either directly with a consumer electronics manufacturer or retailers on the bundling of the TiVo sales and potential content partners who have particular reasons to see TiVo sales driven.
“Several of the bundling programs we ran during the quarter were promising, increasing sales for both TiVo and the consumer electronic manufacturer, while allowing us to acquire subs at lower costs.
“For example, we ran a bundle in conjunction with Amazon.com and Mitsubishi that increased not only TiVo sales but Mitsubishi’s as well.”
Rogers said an expansion of these bundling efforts was planned and he was hopeful that the early successes would translate on a broader scale. -
Freesat's mix of HDTV programmes and subscription-free service is likely to appeal to "millions" of customers unhappy with the UK's digital TV providers
Dissatisfaction with the UK’s top three digital TV providers is likely to make customers consider switching to freesat’s combination of HD programmes without subscription.
That is the conclusion of Steve Weller, communications expert at uSwitch.com, which carried out a customer satisfaction study on the UK’s top three digital TV providers – who hold 95% of the market.
Almost 9 out of 10 homes in the UK have now ‘gone digital’ and spend a total of £4.2 billion on receiving the service every year.
However, the independent price comparison and switching service found that more than 1 in 4 customers are not satisfied with their digital service.
While 73% of people surveyed were satisfied overall with their DTV provider, 27% said they were not satisfied. This equates to 6,000,418 households.
Weller said the survey of nearly 10,000 digital TV subscribers looked at the services provided by Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media.
He said that less than 1 in 2 digital TV customers (46%) are satisfied with the customer service they receive from their provider.
“Sky and Virgin will have quite a challenge on their hands convincing customers to part with their hard earned cash whilst expecting them to accept the current levels of customer service on offer,” he said.
“The availability of ‘free’ services has received a boost with the launch of freesat, a joint initiative from the BBC and ITV that promises high definition programmes without the need for an ongoing subscription.
“With a one-off cost for the set-up and a box, consumers will no doubt see these services as offering greater value for money when compared to the traditional monthly subscriptions offered by Sky and Virgin.”
On a more positive note, customers voted Sky Best Overall Provider with 76% satisfied, despite coming last for value for money (57% satisfied).
Sky customers pay an average of £31.17 per month for their digital TV service – almost double the £16.70 paid by Virgin Media customers.
Freeview won Best Value for Money award with 75% satisfied – with value for money voted the most important feature when choosing a DTV provider. -
Samsung HDTV earns top slot in customer loyalty survey
Samsung Electronics has come first in a customer loyalty survey in the US for both its HDTVs and DVD players.
The company was winner in the two categories in the Loyalty Engagement Index, a nationwide survey carried out by Brand Keys Customer.
It identifies brands that are best able to engage consumers by meeting or exceeding their expectations, which creates loyal customers.
The report forecasts which products consumers are most likely to purchase over the next 12 to 18 months.
In both the HDTV (LCD) and DVD player categories, consumer preferences were based on product design and performance.
Tim Baxter, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics America, said: “Winning these awards reaffirms Samsung’s dedication to provide products with a level of design and functionality that enhances any consumer’s home entertainment setup.”
Last year, Samsung won a Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Award for HDTVs (CRT), as well as honours for HDTVs and DVD players in the 2006 edition.
Robert Passikoff, President at Brand Keys, said the Samsung brand had managed to find a niche for itself, where it means something beyond just electronic equipment to the consumer.
“Customers remain loyal to brands that resonate with values and Samsung achieves this by providing products that resonate with the customer,” he said.
“A lot of brands don’t have that connection.” -
European broadcasters expand HD capacity in advance of summer of sport
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has taken delivery of HDTV MPEG-2 encoder equipment in order to expand capacity on its contribution network.
Supplied by NTT Electronics Corporation, the Encoder HE5100 will allow the organisation’s members to cope with the rising demand for HD content.
This is expected to increase further over the summer with the expansion of HD broadcasts for various major sporting events.
These include the Beijing Olympics, Euro 2008, the Tour de France, and tennis events at Paris’ Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
The HDTV MPEG-2 Encoder HE5100 delivered to the EBU, the largest association of national broadcasters in the world, incorporates the internally-developed single-chip MPEG-2 codec LSI.
As well as allowing the EBU to meet the increasing demand for HD content, the encoder provides high image quality in a compact unit.
It supports both HDTV signals (1080p/1080i/720p) and SDTV signals (576i/512i/480i).
NTT Electronics has developed a variety of video compression technologies. -
Blu-ray recorder sales rising fast in Japan
Sales of high definition Blu-ray recorders are increasing rapidly in Japan as consumers take to the new generation of home movie entertainment.
Last month the more expensive Blu-ray recorders topped the old generation recorders in the value of sales for the first time.
The research firm BCN Ltd said that around a third of machines sold now carry the new format.
Shigehiro Tanaka, BCN chief analyst, said: “Full high-definition picture quality has become a main stream for big-screen TVs, and camcorders with higher picture quality are getting popular, too.
“From the input of data to output, high definition is taking root in Japan.”
The country was at the heart of the format war, which pitted the Blu-ray discs championed by Sony Corp against Toshiba Corp’s HD-DVD discs.
Analysts believe sales of Blu-ray players have been held back, first by indecision over the outcome of the format war and then by high prices.
However, the BCN survey showed April sales for Blu-ray in Japan were almost three times the 12.4 per cent share for both formats in January, before HD-DVD’s demise.
The researchers expect sales of the Blu-ray will rapidly expand in coming months as makers such as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd are likely to cut down prices in a lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. -
Sony commits to Tru2way TV
Sony has signed an agreement with the US’s six largest cable companies to produce a TV that will receive digital signals without the need for a set-top box.
The Japanese electronics company will make an LCD set based on the Tru2way cable platform introduced in January at CES by Comcast.
Tru2way allows interactive cable services to be integrated directly into devices without the need for set-top boxes, which are made by companies such as Motorola Inc and Cisco Systems Inc, which owns Scientific Atlanta.
The agreement is between Sony and Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cox Communications Inc, Charter Communications Inc, Cablevision Systems Corp and Bright House Networks.
Between them the six companies serve more than 82 per cent of cable subscribers in the US.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), which represents cable television operators in the US, said customers would still be able to attach their own devices – such as TiVo digital video recorders.
Under the new system, customers will still need to get a cable card from their provider.
The cable association said it was hopeful other electronics manufacturers would also agree to use the same technology.
Kyle McSlarrow, president of NCTA, said the Sony announcement meant they had headed off action by the US’s Federal Communications Commission to impose a two-way standard on the industry.
Cable companies and consumer electronics manufacturers have been feuding for a decade about how best to deliver cable services to customers while allowing them to buy equipment of their own choosing.
“Every member of the FCC has encouraged the parties to resolve these highly technical issues in private-sector negotiations,” said McSlarrow.
“This is a landmark agreement which will provide a national, open and interactive platform resulting in more choices of services and products for consumers.”
Sony is not the first consumer electronics company to announce a device based on the platform.
At CES, Panasonic announced two HD televisions and a portable digital video recorder that use Tru2Way.
And last month, Samsung, the world’s largest producer of HDTVs, announced its own Tru2way TV and high-definition DVR. -
First single-chip processing LSI developed by Panasonic for Blue-ray Disc players
Panasonic has announced that it has developed the first single-chip signal processing LSI for Blu-ray Disc players that can both read the disc and decode the content.
Previously these functions were performed by separate front end and back end LSI in addition to seven external memory chips.
By combining the functionality into one chip, 50 per cent less space is required and 25 per cent energy is saved.
As a result of the single chip solution, manufacturers will be able to make smaller Blu-ray players that consume less energy.
The innovation is also likely to result in cheaper Blu-ray playback devices.
The Panasonic chips support Blu-ray 2.0 standard, MPEG-4 H.264 and VC-1 codecs and high-quality audio, including lossless coded content.
The chip is also able to play back video on two screens and can display 3D graphics.
It also supports CD and DVD playback.
Panasonic expects to start shipping the chips to manufacturers in June 2008. -
Plastics breakthrough could help cut cost of Blu-ray players
Scientists have moved a step closer to producing electrically-powered plastic laser diodes that could be used in Blu-ray players.
Currently the laser diodes in such consumer optical storage devices are made out of inorganic semiconductors like gallium arsenide, gallium nitride and other semiconductor alloys related to them.
Now, researchers at Imperial College in London have demonstrated a class of plastic semiconductor materials that may allow the low-cost manufacture of electrically-powered plastic laser diodes.
As well as reducing the cost of devices such as Blu-ray players the development could allow plastic laser diodes to operate across a much more substantial wavelength range.
Professor Donal Bradley, lead author of the new study and head of Imperial’s Department of Physics said the development was “a real breakthrough”.
“In the past, designing polymers for electronic and optoelectronic devices often involved maximising one key property in a material at a time,” he said.
“When people tried to develop plastic semiconductors for laser diode use, they found that optimising the material’s charge transporting properties had a detrimental effect on its ability to efficiently emit light, and vice versa.”
The study’s co-author, Dr Paul Stavrinou, added: “The modifications made to the PFO structure have allowed us to convincingly overcome this perceived incompatibility and they suggest that plastic laser diodes might now be a realistic possibility.”
One of the main stumbling blocks to using plastic semiconductor laser diodes is that, until now, no plastics had been found that could sustain a large enough current whilst also supporting the efficient light emission needed to produce a laser beam.
Now the Imperial physicists have done just that. The plastics studied, synthesised by the Sumitomo Chemical Company in Japan, are closely related to PFO, an archetype blue-light emitting material.
By making subtle changes in the plastic’s chemical structure the researchers produced a material that transports charges 200 times better than before, without compromising its ability to efficiently emit light – indeed the generation of laser light was actually improved.
The research team argues that the future laser diodes made out of the material they have developed may generate light emissions covering the spectrum all the way from near ultraviolet to near infrared.