Tag: TV

Panasonic announces job cuts

Posted on May 31, 2013 by - News

seppuku-p1000701Panasonic has announced that 5,000 of its staff will be axed over the next three years.

The Japanese company has said those in its automotive and industrial units will fall on Panasonic’s sword as the company scales back its operations and tries to recoup huge annual losses of $7.5 billion, announced in March.

According to Channel News Asia, the company, which has already cut 20 percent of its workers will now move to slash its staff of around 111,000 people by March 2016. The move is part of an overall strategy to recover its business after a flagging year.

In March, rumours circulated that the company would further salvage its business by cutting its plasma business over the next three years.

It is thought Panasonic’s TV business, which generated sales of $10.5 billion during its peak in 2009 and 2010, accumulated less than half of that amount in 2015 and 2016.

It announced that it would end plasma TV panel production at its main plant in Amagaskai in western Japan around fiscal year 2014.

Ultra HD TV panel shipments to hit 2.6 million units this year

Posted on March 15, 2013 by - News, Products

lg-ultra-hdThe first Ultra HD devices are hitting the market and analysts now estimate 2.6 million Ultra HD TV panels could be shipped by the end of the year.

Since Ultra HD, or 4Kx2K is a relatively new standard, shipments last year were negligible, just 63,000 units. This year we should see the first generation of commercially viable Ultra HD televisions, but it will take years before they go mainstream.

Ultra HD sets are extremely expensive and they are pretty pointless for the time being. There is practically no 4K content out there and spending thousands on “future proof” TVs just isn’t an option for most consumers. NPD Display Search reckons panel makers are looking to speed up 4Kx2K adoption by strengthening their relationships with TV brands and stepping up their manufacturing and sales efforts.

DisplaySearch Vice President, Greater China Market, said Innolux Corp is the most aggressive Ultra HD panel maker at this point, as it is developing a full line-up of panels in the 35- to 85-inch range.

“Despite this, 4K×2K panel manufacturers’ shipments are primarily focused on 50″, 55″/58”, and 65″ sizes, which are expected to have the highest volume shipments, especially in China,” said Hsieh. “4K×2K LCD TV is the newest TV technology available, and in order for it to be successful, it will be critical for the supply chain to avoid falling behind when making their purchases, even if content is still scarce. Some panel makers are also working with design houses to develop circuits built into the panel, to enable up-scaling of HD to 4K×2K content. This will help to drive the 4K×2K LCD TV market and encourage panel makers, especially those that have already started design-in work with TV brands in 2013.”

It all sounds a tad optimistic. New chips and upscaling are no substitute for 4K content, which is simply not around and it won’t be readily available for years to come.

Tesco takes on Netflix with free video streaming service

Posted on February 12, 2013 by - Fun Stuff, News

tesco-blinkboxTesco is apparently gearing up to introduce a new free TV streaming service called Clubcard TV. The beta trial is only available to Tesco staff for the time being, but when it officially launches it will be available to card-carrying Clubcard members and Tesco says it will be “free forever”.

There will be no charges, no contracts nor  subscription fees. Tesco says the service is basically “a thank you to our customers”. Clubcard TV is based on Blinkbox technology. Tesco bought 80 percent of Blinkbox in 2011, so the move is hardly surprising.

The service works in a similar way to Netflix, but unlike Neflix it is completely free and it doesn’t have nearly as much content. It will not offer the latest TV shows or movies. Although it is said to feature thousands of movies and TV shows, most of them are pretty old. At least there are some golden oldies, such as early Batman and Superman movies, along with some ancient British sitcoms.

While it might not be a proper Netflix competitor, at least it will be free and available to millions of Tesco shoppers.