Hitachi scales back plasma production, partners with Matsushita

Washinton Post: Hitachi to clip plasma panel production

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) said it will shrink production of plasma panels and buy them from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co (6752.T) in a bid to cut losses on its flat TVs in a market dominated by rival LCD technology. The world's No. 4 plasma TV maker will buy fabricated glass panels -- the high-end part of aplasma TV -- from Matsushita in a step that some analysts say could be part of a slowwithdrawal from the business.

Sad news for fans of Hitachi's video business, but a sobering glass of reality in the face of a tough, tough marketplace.

Hitachi has always made top notch panels, but have never really scored much in the way of market presence. Certainly, the general lack of new product at CEDIA Expo hinted that they planned on scaling back their efforts.

On the bright side, Matsushita's panels are also first rate, so I expect the quality of their offerings to remain high, and I expect the partnership to benefit both companies.

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What's in store for Hitachi?

Looking around the Hitachi booth at Expo, I've really got to wonder what the future holds for them in the video category.

Granted, they've bowed a really cool looking 50-inch Plasma that's only 1.5 inches deep. But the planned 42, 50, and 60-inch models aren't slated to be released until Q2, 2009. If history has anything to teach us, it's more likely to be Q4. That's a long way off.

Mostly, I'm just dissapointed in their decision to permanently scrub the 85-inch model that was supposed to have been released this year.

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Hitachi Going Mainstream?

Say it ain't so! There's an ominous announcement on Marketnews about Hitachi consolidating their marketing and distribution for North America.

Marketnews: Hitachi Takes New Measures to Strengthen Business in Canada

Effective April 1, 2008, management of Hitachi flat-panel TVs sales and service in Canada will be the responsibility of Hitachi Home Electronics (Canada), a division of Hitachi Home Electronics (America), Inc. (HHEA). Canadian sales, product training and service will continue to operate from existing offices in Mississauga, ON.

That's fine, as far as it goes, and is no doubt necessary to remain competitive. The ominous part comes next:

Hitachi’s success in Canada over the years," Harrison added, "is due to our dealers and their loyalty to us. Such long-standing relationships will only be strengthened by this new strategy. We see this as a growth opportunity to improve our sales and distribution in a way that strongly supports our Canadian dealers’ business objectives.”

In general, when a vendor talks about how much it cherishes its dealers, it's about to pull the rug out from under them.

Until now, Hitachi has focused primarily on servicing small independent and regional chains. It sounds to me like they've decided that they've saturated that market channel and are now interested in going with the Big Box national players.

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Hitachi debuts new super flat panels

Thin is definetely in, as brands such as Sharp and now Hitachi are bowing new LCD sets that are thinner than Paris Hilton.


TWICE: Hitachi Unveils 1.5-Inch Ultra Thin LCDs

Hitachi revealed today it has developed a new line of 1.5-inch (35mm) Ultra Thin LCD HDTVS.Hitachi said it expects to be the first among a group of manufacturers preparing ultra-thin flat-panel displays to market the new products. The first Ultra Thin LCD TV series models are set to arrive on Japan’s retail shelves in December.
...
Models in the series will feature the 32-, 37- and 42-inch screen sizes, and the two larger models will have 1080p HD resolution. The 32-inch model, which will have 1366-by-768 resolution, will ship in the U.S. in first quarter of 2008 and the 37- and 42-inch models will ship in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2008. Prices will be announced later.

I'd like to point out that the Hitachi LCD's that I looked at in Denver during CEDIA were fantastic looking. Even better than the *gasp* Sharp LCD's which up until now I have considered to be the top of the heap.

In demo situations at trade shows, most LCD makers are very careful to use HD video demo material that is either still life, such as flowers and bowls of fruit, or very slow side pans, such as pretty girls strolling through forests and meadows. Since LCD's often choke on fast motion, action movies are right out for demos.

The 42-inch Hitachi LCD's in Denver had an HD loop running that included motocross racers tearing along at high speed, and the LCD's performance with fast motion was impressive. Virtually no stair stepping, and zero dropouts and lag.

Granted, I admit that I am a video snob, and most consumers are not going to notice the things that I notice, but Hitachi's entrance in the LCD business looks like a great leap forward.

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LG unveils world's smallest plasma television

I4U News: LG 32PC5RV is World's Smallest Plasma TV

LG announces the 32 inch Plasma TV in Brasil for all places. LG tries to serve a curve ball with the LG 32PC5RV PlasmaTV and try to get some share from the fastest growing size segment for flat screen TVs. Of course all 32 inch HDTVs sold right now are LCDs. It’s about carving out a new niche for a growing demand,” said Simon Kang, president and CEO of LG Electronics Digital Display Company.

A great idea, but hardly original. Hitachi produced a 32-inch plasma screen in 2004, the 32HDT50 (pictured) that didn't do especially well in the marketplace. Of course, it was nearly five thousand dollars back then. You could safely say that it was ahead of its time.

So much for the loose talk that plasma is on the way out!

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Hitachi to debut two Blu-ray camcorders, and are very pleased with themselves

Marketnews: Hitachi Unveils World's First Blu-ray Camcorders
Hitachi will be introducing two Blu-ray camcorder models in North America this October: one that records to Blu-ray discs and the other a hybrid model, recording to both Blu-ray discs and its built-in 30 GB hard disk drive.

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“Hitachi introduced the world’s first DVD camcorder in 2000, and once again we are very proud to introduce the next generation of high definition recording with the world’s first Blu-ray disc camcorder,” enthused Kevin Nascimben, Product Manager at Hitachi Canada. “These two new Blu-ray camcorders represent the ultimate in full high definition video recording and flexibility. With the ability to record in high definition, standard definition and to five different disc formats plus hard drive, it provides consumers with valuable options and a ‘future-proof’ solution when choosing a camcorder. That a camcorder can have all these features and performance in such a compact, sleek design is pretty cool.”

I dearly love Hitachi and their products and have for years. That said, they've gone completely bonkers with the self-love about this. My friendly neighborhood Hitachi rep has been spamming his dealer e-mail list on a daily basis with video clips from tv spots, and press releases.

Okay, you guys are pumped about this. We get it. I'm happy that you're happy.

Lost in the backslapping is the question: what about Sony? Isn't Blu-ray primarily Sony's baby? There was a time that Sony was the King of the Heap when it came to camcorders. As a result, I'm surprised and mildly puzzled that Sony didn't extend themselves to be the first to market with a Blu-ray Handycam. I'd like to think that Sony had a good reason for having Hitachi hopscotch them and claim bragging rights (for what it's worth, Hitachi camcorders have always been very nice), but at the moment I'm unclear on what it might be.

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Hitachi abandoning the rear projection business

TWICE: Hitachi Presents 60Hz 1080 Flat-Panel Lineup
Hitachi formally unveiled here a full line of “1080” HD flat-panel sets, highlighted by three plasma models that will employ the company’s “Reel 60” 60Hz frame-rate technology.
At the same time, the company has elected to drop the rear-projection TV category that has been its trademark for over a decade to focus solely on the growing flat-panel business. The company will continue to carry front projectors, but only as a business-to-business offering at this time.

This has been in the works for some time, as I commented back in February:

Playing the Glaucon to my Socrates, he confirmed that Hitachi sees no point in gussying up the RP business, since its days are numbered due to the increasing acceptance and decreasing price points of flat panel technology. Don't forget, after Sony debuted the WEGA flat-front picture tubes in 1998, the entire industry chased them, trying to offer flat-front tubes of their own. In 2001, Hitachi very pointedly abandoned the tube television business entirely.

Microdisplay rear projection used to be the cutting edge of new technology video displays, but that was five years ago. Now, it's all flat-panel, all the time. Given the prevalence of inexpensive flat-panel tvs, don't be surprised to see other brands join in putting rear projection out to pasture.

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Matsushita and Hitachi collaborate on plasma panels, TWICE wins award for Creepiest Headline of 2007

Oddly enough, the news item doesn't refer to Matsushita and Hitachi agreeing to an open relationship, browsing craigslist.com together, or looking for car keys in a fishbowl, but rather their strategy of consolidiating their logistics for supplying plasma display panels.

Plasma Makers Agree To Swap

Tokyo — Matsushita and Hitachi have reached an agreement to supply each other with key large plasma-display-panel screen sizes, the companies said in a joint statement.
Under the agreement, Matsushita, which markets the Panasonic brand, will supply Hitachi with 103-inch panels starting this year, while Hitachi will sell Matsushita forthcoming 85-inch panels beginning in the next fiscal year.
Hitachi will introduce its first 85-inch panel in mid-2008.

Any prurient thoughts I had were immediately dispelled by the thought of an 85-inch plasma in my basement, which is, frankly, a lot hotter to think about.

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Advances in projection illumination technologies, and why not everybody cares about it

In the past month, Panasonic and Samsung announced new microdisplay rear projection televisions that abandon HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps in favor of new, high tech light sources. New Samsung units will use a high output LED in place of the fragile, short-lived HID lamps, and Panasonic has partered with Luxim for a new longer life light engine.

My point (and I did have one): two weeks ago I pigeonholed a source at Hitachi, and asked him, in Socratic fashion: "Gee, two major brands are trumpeting their breakthroughs in rear projection technology. At the same time, I notice that your line of plasma and LCD flat panels is expanding, even as your line of microdisplay rear projections is shrinking. Given how Hitachi prides itself on being an innovator, is it reasonable to assume that you don't believe there is a future in rear projection technology, and rather than design a better deck chair for the Titanic, you intend to throw all your weight behind the flat panel market?"

Playing the Glaucon to my Socrates, he confirmed that Hitachi sees no point in gussying up the RP business, since its days are numbered due to the increasing acceptance and decreasing price points of flat panel technology. Don't forget, after Sony debuted the WEGA flat-front picture tubes in 1998, the entire industry chased them, trying to offer flat-front tubes of their own. In 2001, Hitachi very pointedly abandoned the tube television business entirely. Why spend money perfecting a flat tube of our own (they declared) when the writing is on the wall for tubes in general? Instead, they eliminated their tube business, and turned their resources over to becoming a major Japanese plasma maker, and have enjoyed great success not only with their own brand, but OEM'ing their panels to other brands as well.

Back to my point: a 65-inch CRT-rear projection HDTV was $6500 in 2002. Today, it's $1499. Next year there won't be any. In 2005 a 65-inch DLP rear projection HDTV was $4999. In 2008, will there even be any?

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Hitachi forecasts smaller price drops

Reuters: Hitachi sees smaller fall in plasma TV prices

This is the price I must pay for blogging before hitting all my news outlets first thing in the morning. Hot on the heels of my pronouncement of radical price erosion on flat panel tvs this Christmas as manufacturers vie for market dominance, Hitachi goes and torpedoes my oracular vision with the announcement that they are expecting price cuts to be smaller than forecast.

Hitachi Vice President Makoto Ebata told reporters he expects strong sales of plasma TVs of more than 40 inches, which are less threatened by competition from LCD TV makers that tend to be strongest in TVs smaller than 40 inches.

All is not lost. After all, Hitachi needs to remember that it might not be up to them. My earlier bon mot about The Markdown Limbo still holds true: how low can they go? All it takes is for one other manufacturer to start getting twitchy and get pushy with markdowns, and the rest of the big brands will have to start pursuing defensive price adjustments or risk being caught napping. So I'm sticking to my call: flat panel retail pricing will be a wild ride this year.

p.s. I just figured out looked up how to do embedded hyperlinks. Let's all give me a big round of applause for joining the 21st Century.

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