[AlanO]

http://www.whathifi.com/news/toshiba...ucing-new-sets

Looks like Toshiba are exiting their own production for the North American market and are reviewing their operations in other areas.

I know they've used Vestel for a while on their smaller sets, but looks like they're considering a licensing arrangement for everything else.

Following the route of Sharp (licensed to UMC in Europe), Philips (sold TV business to TPV) and others.

Interesting the article also references Sony looking at the sale of their TV division.

[1andrew1]

I guess Compal will also pick up the Toshiba TV brand licence for Europe. They acquired Toshiba's Polish TV factory in 2013 so would struggle without the brand.
http://mic.iii.org.tw/english/ae/en_...&doc_sqno=9710

The Sony situation has been discussed here. http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2041009

[Orbitalzone]

I guess they'll make more money by selling the rights to use their name rather than having to spend £££'s on R&D and factories etc.

I guess if they make $1 for every TV sold with their name on, they may make more profit than they currently do!

[JurassicMark]

That's a shame, recently dumped an old Toshiba 32 inch CRT, which was a great TV.

Who will be the next to go?

Soon, we'll just have a choice between Sumsung and Bush

[AlanO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JurassicMark

That's a shame, recently dumped an old Toshiba 32 inch CRT, which was a great TV.

Who will be the next to go?

Soon, we'll just have a choice between Sumsung and Bush

The obvious one would be Sony as they've already confirmed they're undertaking a 'strategic review' - which Panasonic haven't.

No evidence either Samsung or LG are looking to stop producing their own sets yet though.

[1andrew1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JurassicMark

That's a shame, recently dumped an old Toshiba 32 inch CRT, which was a great TV.

Who will be the next to go?

Soon, we'll just have a choice between Sumsung and Bush

I think the Big 4 (Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sony) will continue for now but I can see Sony dropping its cheaper models and focusing on its higher-end offerings. Sony and Panasonic are currently the weaker two.

I don't think there's anyone else of significance to exit the market, as the others all have:
Alba - brand no longer used for TVs by Argos
Goodmans - no longer offers TVs, most recently offered Cello-made TVs
Grundig - exited UK TV market, on sale in Germany and other countries, part of Beko
Hitachi - licenced to Home Retail Group (Argos)
JVC - licenced to Currys (DixonsCarphone)
Mitsubishi - exited market
Philips - licenced to TP Vision of Taiwan
Pioneer - licenced to DixonsCarphone Nordic countries
Sanyo - absorbed by Panasonic, discontinued
Sharp - licenced to UMC of Slovakia
Thomson - licenced to TCL of China, exited UK market
Toshiba - likely to be licenced to Compal of Taiwan

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I think the Big 4 (Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sony) will continue for now but I can see Sony dropping its cheaper models and focusing on its higher-end offerings. Sony and Panasonic are currently the weaker two.

Sony have already discontinued all sets smaller than 32 inch, presumably for costs reasons? - but perhaps also because a 32 inch is pretty well a portable nowadays

Sony and Panasonic both lose money on TV's (because they make them better, use better quality components, and offer better service) - as far as I'm aware both Samsung and LG make profits on TV's.

[Chris Frost]

Sony has already made a statement along the lines of it pulling away from low and midrange TV to focus on higher-end and premium products.

What a sad state of affairs for the world TV market. It's a product that almost everyone wants, and yet the manufacturer's are engaged in this suicidal race-to-the-bottom to on price which is causing the industry to implode. On top of that, there's no co-ordination with the retailers to segment the market so that premium product gets a chance to shine.

The writing was on the wall for the TV industry 10 years ago. Now we're seeing the inevitable outcome of greed and poor planning.

[fastest finger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Frost

Sony has already made a statement along the lines of it pulling away from low and midrange TV to focus on higher-end and premium products.

What a sad state of affairs for the world TV market. It's a product that almost everyone wants, and yet the manufacturer's are engaged in this suicidal race-to-the-bottom to on price which is causing the industry to implode. On top of that, there's no co-ordination with the retailers to segment the market so that premium product gets a chance to shine.

The writing was on the wall for the TV industry 10 years ago. Now we're seeing the inevitable outcome of greed and poor planning.

I guess it's a tricky model to maintain. One one hand, they want us to upgrade our TVs regularly by introducing a steady stream of new "features" (HD, 3D, Smart, curved, OLED, UHD) which must incur huge R&D costs, while at the same time they have to keep prices low enough for consumers to bite.

I'm not sure whether to have sympathy for them or blame them for turning TVs into yet another disposable product.

[Chris Frost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastest finger

I guess it's a tricky model to maintain. One one hand, they want us to upgrade our TVs regularly by introducing a steady stream of new "features" (HD, 3D, Smart, curved, OLED, UHD) which must incur huge R&D costs, while at the same time they have to keep prices low enough for consumers to bite.

I'm not sure whether to have sympathy for them or blame them for turning TVs into yet another disposable product.

You're right about the costs of R&D for new features. So why do the manufacturers insist on shortening the return period on each wave of new TVs by replacing them every year? They're obsessed with market share. But where's that got them? The answer is an unsustainable business where only the very large and very mediocre can survive. That's not a sensible outcome.

I speak as something of an industry insider in that I worked for Philips Consumer Electronics for 5 years at a senior sales level. I understand the business model that says market dominance is key. But just like so many other business models before it, this idea has had its day.

[1andrew1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Sony have already discontinued all sets smaller than 32 inch, presumably for costs reasons? - but perhaps also because a 32 inch is pretty well a portable nowadays

I think you're right on both counts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Sony and Panasonic both lose money on TV's (because they make them better, use better quality components, and offer better service) - as far as I'm aware both Samsung and LG make profits on TV's.

The Koreans have beaten the Japanese at their own game of quality mass production and are enjoying the economies of scale. Samsung and LG are now the first and second largest TV manufacturers in the world respectively. If the difference were as simple as you suggest then Sony and Panasonic could easily compete; it's not; the Korean products are frequently superior.

But it makes total sense for the Japanese to head upmarket and leave the Koreans to fight it out with the Chinese and Turkish mass market manufacturers.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

If the difference were as simple as you suggest then Sony and Panasonic could easily compete; it's not; the Korean products are frequently superior.

The relative reliability would suggest otherwise

[Chris Frost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

The relative reliability would suggest otherwise

Agreed.

All the Koreans have done is accelerate price erosion and take advantage of consumer greed for more features and bigger screens at lower prices. It's only lately that there's been some repositioning within Samsung to focus certain models on some aspects of picture quality. I see little evidence of that though from LG.