THE FRONT LINE: MARCH 30, 2006
Panasonic’s 2006 Digital Lifestyles Show
On March 28, Panasonic jammed several members of the consumer electronics press and several new plasma TVs, digital cameras, and DVD recorders into BB King’s Blues Club and Grille on 42nd Street in New York. It was a tight fit, but well worth the visit.
Figure 1. There wasn’t much discussion of Blu-ray, even with all that signage surrounding Panasonic’s Andrew Nelkin, VP of their Display Group.
If anyone had questions about Panasonic’s commitment to plasma technology, they were quickly dispelled earlier this year with the January announcement of a new $1.5B PDP fab (to be constructed with partner Toray Industries) to be operational in 2007, helping Panasonic crank out 11 million panels a year.
Yesterday came the icing on the cake, as Panasonic announced several new models in their plasma line. In addition to upgraded 37-inch, 42-inch, and 50-inch products, Panasonic took the wraps off a pair of 58-inch plasma TVs, announced a ship date and price for their 65-inch 1080p plasma, and raised more than a few eyebrows by stating their 103-inch model, shown at CES, would be at retail by the end of this year.
The TH-58PX600U and TH-58PX60U use new glass cuts with powerful electronics behind them. Although offering only 1366x768 resolution, these panels claim enough sampling bit depth to show 29 billion color shades (well over 10 bits-per-channel processing) and can hit 10,000:1 peak contrast. My guess is that the latter number represents full-on, full-off small area measurements.
Figure 2. The TH-58PX600U will make its debut in June for under $6,000.
Figure 3. Look for the 1080p TH-65PX600U in September for about $10K.
Other upgrades to the line include the 50-inch TH-50PX600U ($3,999) and 42-inch TH-42PX600U ($2,999). All 600-series TVs include a CableCARD slot, PC input (presumably a VGA connector), a pair of HDMI connectors, and TV Guide electronic program guide. The TH-58PX600U will retail for $5,999, making it very competitive with Hitachi’s 55HDT52 (also $5,999), while the TH-58PX60U (no TV Guide or CableCARD) is $500 less.
Panasonic’s TH-65PX600U has a heftier price tag ($9,995) and will debut in September. This TV sports a full 1920x1080-pixel matrix, CableCARD slot, and TV Guide OSD. As for the 103-incher, no prices were bandied about for it, but you can expect it to be a 100% custom-install product.
Neither LG or Samsung has announced they will be shipping their 100”+ behemoths any time soon, so the only competition for this product would be something like Optoma’s 100-inch BigVizion DLP rear-projection TV system. That will sell for somewhere around $26,000, but the 103-inch plasma will be several magnitudes higher in cost.
Given that (a) the only “sure thing” growth market for rear-projection TVs is North America, (b) the bulk of future RPTV sales are expected to be below 60 inches, and (c) several independent studies have confirmed the consumer’s preference for flat-panel TVs over RPTV if the price is right, the unveiling of 58-inch PDP TVs should send a shiver up the spines of rear-projection TV manufacturers.
It’s clear that PDP manufacturers can cover many popular big-screen TV sizes (50, 55, 58, 60, 63, and 65 inches) — and will. RPTVs still have the edge in price and higher resolution for now, but as we’ve seen repeatedly over the past five years, lower PDP TV prices are only a matter of time given improved yields and economies of scale (not to mention market price pressures!).
The folks from Secaucus didn’t forget the smaller sizes, either. The TC-26LX600 (26-inch) and TC-32LX600 (32-inch) HD LCD TVs. Both have 1366x768 resolution, HDMI inputs, and integrated ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners. The TC-26LX600 will sell for $1,299 and the TC-32LX600 for $1,699.
In addition to SD memory card slots for viewing of digital photos, all of these new products use Panasonic’s HDAVI EZ-Sync HDMI control system. Want to watch a DVD? Just push the DVD button on the remote — the DVD player will power up, the TV will change inputs and the AV receiver will switch to the appropriate digital audio input. That is, if all of the components are Panasonic…
Last but not least, Panasonic announced the availability and pricing of their DMP-BD10 Blu-ray player. It will hit the streets the same time as the TH-65PX600U and the price “…will be less than $1,500.” (Ouch!) I assume that means $1,499, but I’m guessing that Panasonic will be playing a cat-and-mouse pricing game for the next few months with other manufacturers of Blu-ray players, not to mention those coming out in the competing (and less expensive) HD DVD format.
