CIRCUIT HITS $799 FOR ANALOG REAR-PROJECTION TV
The downward creeping in analog rear-projection TV pricing has turned into a sprint with Circuit City promoting a Magnavox 55” set at $799, post rebate, in an ad circular Thurs.
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While the sub-$1,000 analog rear-projection TV once was rare, it now has become common, with the category accounting for 30% of overall analog sales (400,000 units) through Sept. at an average price of $899, NPD analyst Tom Edwards said. Meanwhile, in another sign of the shrinking market for direct-view TVs, the Toshiba-Matsushita joint CRT venture MT Picture Display Corp. said it would lay off 200 workers at its Horseheads, N.Y., factory as it cut production by Jan. to slash inventories. The factory had 1,113 employees.
Leading the charge in the sub-$1,000 market has been Apex, with 43” ($726) and 50” ($807), followed by GE (46”, $930), RCA (46”, $946), Toshiba (50”, $886) and Hitachi (43”, $854), Edwards said. The growth of the sub-$1,000 analog rear-projection TV market has been fueled by the continued decline in the prices of digital models, industry officials said. For example, the bestbuy.com Web site was promoting a 52W RCA HD monitor at $1,299, while similarly featured 47W and 48W models from Panasonic and Mitsubishi were at $1,423 and $1,699, respectively.
Despite the sharp drop in pricing, inventory of analog direct-view and projection sets has built throughout the year, industry officials said. The build-up forced MT Picture Display, which has 4 weeks inventory, to reduce production to a 3-shift, 5-day work week instead of a 24-hour operation, MT Picture Display Operations Vp John Webster said. That will reduce the plant’s maximum capacity to 950,000 tubes annually from 1.3 million, he said. The Horseheads factory operates 2 lines producing 32” and 36” flat and curved CRTs for sale internally to Panasonic and Toshiba, as well as Philips, Sanyo, Sharp and others on an OEM basis. The buildup of direct-view inventory in the U.S. has been tied to the emergence of flat-panel displays and a surge of imports from China. The imports have been the subject of an investigation by the FTC, which is expected issue a preliminary ruling of duties today (Fri.).
In addition to cutting back the hours of production, MT Picture Display will pour $1 million into the plant to upgrade equipment and boost production of flat-faced CRTs. The equipment is being installed and is expected to go on line by the end of the year, Webster said. Once the revamping is complete, flat- faced tubes will account for 70% of the Horseheads annual production, up from 50-60%, Webster said. Toshiba, which was the sole operator of the factory before forming a joint venture this year with Matsushita, ceased production of curved 19-20” tubes in 2000 because of a sharp decline in retail pricing.
While an increase in flat-faced CRT production is on the immediate horizon, widescreen tubes won’t figure in the joint venture’s plans for at least 2 years, Webster said. “It’s in our long-range plans, but not for a couple of years,” he said. “The market for widescreen direct-view sets has been slow to emerge.”