MAKUHARI, Japan - Bucking any trend or temptation toward building 3D into 4K TVs and front projectors, Sharp won’t add 3D technology to its next-generation displays so it may preserve “more realistic” image quality in 2D, Public Relations Manager Miyuki Nakayama told us at the CEATEC Japan show Tuesday.
Chip export news
E-waste and energy efficiency will remain on Capitol Hill’s radar even if Republicans regain control of one or both houses of Congress, officials from the CE industry and environmental groups agree. But some of those officials who lobby at the state and local level said a Republican takeover will mean less emphasis on regulation and more stress on market incentives.
Safer and cost-effective substitutes for hazardous flame-retardants now used in CE products were the highlight of a report jointly issued by two non-profit environmental groups this week. The new materials don’t contain the potentially toxic halogen compounds now widely used to insulate wiring and printed circuit boards in electronics components, authors Clean Production Action (CPA) and the International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec) said.
Supplier DXG has yet to rival the camcorder market shares of major players like Sony in the U.S., but it made strides in 2008, slightly improving its share from 2007, while growing its retail accounts, increasing revenue about 6 percent and having an “extremely profitable” year, DXG USA Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Paul Goldberg told Consumer Electronics Daily. Those achievements were achieved despite ongoing price compression and tough competition, as well as the global economic downturn, he said.
Silicon TV tuner supplier Microtune expects to reap no “meaningful revenue” from DTV converter box sales after the first of the year, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Kupp said Tuesday at the Sidoti & Co. investor conference in New York. While the industry is on track to hit sales of 30 million converter boxes by February, any market beyond then will be slow to emerge, if it does at all, Kupp told us.
Intel won approval to build a $2.5 billion, 12"-wafer plant in northern China for CPU chip sets, China’s National Development & Reform Commission said Tues. The plant, in Dolian, would use 90-nanometer technology and have monthly capacity for 52,000 wafers, the planning group said. Intel declined to comment. The plans could raise issues with the federal govt., which tightly controls the export of high-tech manufacturing and could bar Intel from deploying anything less than 0.18 micron in China. Chinese officials told EE Times in Jan. that Intel’s plans for Dolian involved more than just packaging chips. China is Intel’s 2nd-largest market after the U.S. and is home to Lenovo and other PC manufacturers. Meanwhile, Intel has scored “multiple design wins” from both internal groups and OEM customers for its Z- U130 solid state NAND flash drive, a spokeswoman said. The drive, which will be available in one, 2, 4 and 8 GB capacities, will be used in various products, including servers, “emerging market” notebook PCs and “low-cost, fully featured” desktop PCs, the spokeswoman said. At least one of customers for the flash drive is based in Europe, said the spokeswoman, who wouldn’t elaborate. The drives will be available in thin small-outline packages (TSOPs) measuring 37x26x9mm and 37x26x6mm, the spokeswoman said.
Having largely failed at selling products through mass retailers, InFocus is returning to its roots in the educational and corporate markets while keeping ties to the custom installation business, CEO Kyle Ranson said Tues. in an earnings conference call with analysts.
HD DVD edged closer to establishing a China-only format with the DVD Forum’s approval of preliminary specs for such a system. The decision to go forward came by the narrowest of votes at the Forum’s Steering Committee in L.A. last week, where the group also approved developing specs for camcorders that would use red lasers to record HD DVD on conventional DVD blanks.
Brazil may be near a decision on a DTV standard, ending the last big battle for market share among DTV standards from the U.S. (ATSC), Europe (DVB) and Japan (ISDB). A delegation led by Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim Thurs. signed a memorandum of understanding for Japan to help Brazil develop a “Japanese-Brazilian system” for DTV, AFP reported. But a final decision on the standard would be up to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva, Amorim said.
China’s production of CE products will reach $67.3 billion this year, up 22% from 2004, and continue growing at a 23% compound annual rate through 2007. Meanwhile, China’s growing CE output for exports is creating a huge demand for imported ICs and opportunity for overseas chip makers, a report from research firm Global Sources said Thurs.