dan9999
01-29-2010, 01:49 PM
Panasonic CTO: We Need 3DTV To Pull Out Of Slump
CEA Figures Show Industry Sales Fell 7.8% in 2009
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/7/2010 7:36:45 PM
Las Vegas — What's really driving 3DTV? The need for consumer-electronics companies to boost sales, according to Panasonic chief technology officer Eisuke Tsuyuzaki.
Tsuyuzaki, speaking on the panel "3D Hope or Hype" here at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, said Panasonic and other industry manufacturers are banking on the revenue opportunity represented by 3DTV -- billed by many here at the confab as the next big thing for CE manufacturers, TV programmers and distributors.
"It's a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this," he said. "To me the thing that's going to get us there is 3D."
The CE industry had perhaps its worst year ever in 2009, according to Consumer Electronics Association figures released Thursday. Total industry shipment revenues fell an estimated 7.8% in 2009 even as unit volume increased nearly 10% for the year "as consumers bought electronics at a value, limiting industry revenues," the trade group said. CEA expects a modest improvement in 2010.
"2009 is a year none of us wish to repeat," CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro said in his opening remarks Thursday morning at the start of the show.
The CEA this week issued a rosier forecast for 3DTV sales. Previously, the trade group was estimating around 2.2 million units will ship in 2010. On Thursday, the trade group said it is now projecting sales of more than 4 million 3D television sets for the year.
Tsuyuzaki noted, however, that prices for 3DTVs will not be significantly higher than current non-3D HD sets. Panasonic expects to begin offering the Viera 3DTV sets in the spring, and they "won't be at a high, astronomical price," he said.
Ahmad Ouri, chief marketing officer of Technicolor, also on the panel, added, "I think all the CE companies are waiting to see what the others do [on pricing]. It can't be double the price tag, or it's a nonstarter."
Another obstacle is that there are a number of consumer misconceptions about 3DTV. For example, some think that everything that comes to the 3D set will be in 3D, and some vendors are claiming they have the ability to automaticallly convert 2D into 3D content, Ouri said. "We have to be careful to not deliver poor-quality 3D to the consumer and get a black eye."
Another mistaken belief among some consumers is that they will need to wear the 3D glasses to watch conventional 2D programming on the TV, said Rick Dean, chairman of the 3D Home Consortium.
Panasonic, as part of its consumer-education efforts, since last September has had several trucks showing its 3DTV displays at events and retail locations around the country. "Once you see it, you get it," Tsuyuzaki said. "It will take off a lot more quickly than a lot of people expect."
More 3D programming should help make that sale. ESPN, for one, is planning to launch a 3D event channel in June, featuring more than 85 live events in the first year.
When ESPN ran a test of a 3D telecast last fall, a matchup between USC and Ohio State University, the programmer studied people it invited to watch the games at theaters and ESPN Zone restaurants to see if they lost interest, said Anthony Bailey, ESPN vice president of emerging technologies.
"Many of these people said they were never exposed to 3D... We found people did not want to leave," Bailey said. "It's going to take people coming in to Best Buy and seeing a 3DTV and saying, ‘Hey what's that, can I check that out?'"
U.K. satellite operator BSkyB, meanwhile, is preparing to launch a 3D service later this year.
Brian Lenz, BSkyB's director of product design and TV product development, said the point of having a 3D television is "not about sitting in your house and watching everything in 3D... It's about, when you want the best possible way to experience a game, or the most immersive, compelling way to experience entertainment -- you want to see that in 3D."
The scarcity of 3D content is actually going to be beneficial, in Lenz's view. "You keep the threshold high, and make it the type of content people will put the glasses on for."
Lenz added, "People need to see that it's not anaglyph glasses," he said, referring to the old-fashioned red-and-blue lenses. "This is not Jaws 3D. it's Avatar 3D."
CEA Figures Show Industry Sales Fell 7.8% in 2009
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/7/2010 7:36:45 PM
Las Vegas — What's really driving 3DTV? The need for consumer-electronics companies to boost sales, according to Panasonic chief technology officer Eisuke Tsuyuzaki.
Tsuyuzaki, speaking on the panel "3D Hope or Hype" here at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, said Panasonic and other industry manufacturers are banking on the revenue opportunity represented by 3DTV -- billed by many here at the confab as the next big thing for CE manufacturers, TV programmers and distributors.
"It's a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this," he said. "To me the thing that's going to get us there is 3D."
The CE industry had perhaps its worst year ever in 2009, according to Consumer Electronics Association figures released Thursday. Total industry shipment revenues fell an estimated 7.8% in 2009 even as unit volume increased nearly 10% for the year "as consumers bought electronics at a value, limiting industry revenues," the trade group said. CEA expects a modest improvement in 2010.
"2009 is a year none of us wish to repeat," CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro said in his opening remarks Thursday morning at the start of the show.
The CEA this week issued a rosier forecast for 3DTV sales. Previously, the trade group was estimating around 2.2 million units will ship in 2010. On Thursday, the trade group said it is now projecting sales of more than 4 million 3D television sets for the year.
Tsuyuzaki noted, however, that prices for 3DTVs will not be significantly higher than current non-3D HD sets. Panasonic expects to begin offering the Viera 3DTV sets in the spring, and they "won't be at a high, astronomical price," he said.
Ahmad Ouri, chief marketing officer of Technicolor, also on the panel, added, "I think all the CE companies are waiting to see what the others do [on pricing]. It can't be double the price tag, or it's a nonstarter."
Another obstacle is that there are a number of consumer misconceptions about 3DTV. For example, some think that everything that comes to the 3D set will be in 3D, and some vendors are claiming they have the ability to automaticallly convert 2D into 3D content, Ouri said. "We have to be careful to not deliver poor-quality 3D to the consumer and get a black eye."
Another mistaken belief among some consumers is that they will need to wear the 3D glasses to watch conventional 2D programming on the TV, said Rick Dean, chairman of the 3D Home Consortium.
Panasonic, as part of its consumer-education efforts, since last September has had several trucks showing its 3DTV displays at events and retail locations around the country. "Once you see it, you get it," Tsuyuzaki said. "It will take off a lot more quickly than a lot of people expect."
More 3D programming should help make that sale. ESPN, for one, is planning to launch a 3D event channel in June, featuring more than 85 live events in the first year.
When ESPN ran a test of a 3D telecast last fall, a matchup between USC and Ohio State University, the programmer studied people it invited to watch the games at theaters and ESPN Zone restaurants to see if they lost interest, said Anthony Bailey, ESPN vice president of emerging technologies.
"Many of these people said they were never exposed to 3D... We found people did not want to leave," Bailey said. "It's going to take people coming in to Best Buy and seeing a 3DTV and saying, ‘Hey what's that, can I check that out?'"
U.K. satellite operator BSkyB, meanwhile, is preparing to launch a 3D service later this year.
Brian Lenz, BSkyB's director of product design and TV product development, said the point of having a 3D television is "not about sitting in your house and watching everything in 3D... It's about, when you want the best possible way to experience a game, or the most immersive, compelling way to experience entertainment -- you want to see that in 3D."
The scarcity of 3D content is actually going to be beneficial, in Lenz's view. "You keep the threshold high, and make it the type of content people will put the glasses on for."
Lenz added, "People need to see that it's not anaglyph glasses," he said, referring to the old-fashioned red-and-blue lenses. "This is not Jaws 3D. it's Avatar 3D."