Big Screen Televisions..a bust for most companies?

3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Pioneer, Sony, now Panasonic all losing money because of big screen displays. What's the deal with big screen that causes this much trouble for companies?

International
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
I'm guessing that there's more to it, but my first thought was about the economy. A new big screen sounds great to me when times are good, but when the job market is uncertain, stuff like food, shelter, and a little nest egg sound a lot better. Sometimes those items are for others that have already lost them.

Either that or TVs have gotten large enough that people are finally happy. :) Not us, I know - but we're special. :D
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
The issue is that to remain competitive in the market they have had to drop prices as competitors such as Vizio have stepped up with displays which are inexpensive and look very good. While people may be willing to pay a few hundred bucks more for a Panasonic or Sony, they rarely are willing to pay $1,000 more. What I'm not sure of is if Samasung is also losing money on TVs, because they definitely have some outstanding looking displays.

So, if Samsung makes a profit and has great looking displays, then that's where the bar is set. If Sony, Panasonic, and others can't beat their price, and only look marginally better, then they will be in trouble on sales.

Pioneer, is a prime example of this. As expensive as their TVs were, they still lost millions of dollars every year from their TV manufacturing division, and this is what ended up killing that brand.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
I'm guessing that there's more to it, but my first thought was about the economy. A new big screen sounds great to me when times are good, but when the job market is uncertain, stuff like food, shelter, and a little nest egg sound a lot better. Sometimes those items are for others that have already lost them.

Either that or TVs have gotten large enough that people are finally happy. :) Not us, I know - but we're special. :D
I feel "special" that we're special! :p
 
M

Midwesthonky

Audioholic General
The issue is that to remain competitive in the market they have had to drop prices as competitors such as Vizio have stepped up with displays which are inexpensive and look very good. While people may be willing to pay a few hundred bucks more for a Panasonic or Sony, they rarely are willing to pay $1,000 more. What I'm not sure of is if Samasung is also losing money on TVs, because they definitely have some outstanding looking displays
Economics is probably the biggest factor. Plus raw commodity prices don't help. Plus the capital expense to build a factory that can produce the screens of that size at the quality needed. It all adds up to the financial reports showing a loss.

Commodity prices hurt. Each TV contains gold and other precious metals in the electronic boards. The metals prices have been going up and the retail price of TVs have been going down due to producing more than there is demand for.

Now those who invested big coin in the factories to make the screens will take a hit for years as they write off that investment over time. Then the technology to produce changed some some never got their investment back before their factory became obsolete. How does the factory become obsolete? People demand bigger and bigger screens. If it can't produce that bigger screen, you need a new factory or at least upgraded equipment. All costing big money. Or if your factory process isn't in control, then you end up scrapping a bunch of screens or parts. Each scrap piece is a loss. Early factories probably had high scrap rates. Then as they learned how to process the screens better and the manufacturing technology improved, the old factories no longer were financially viable because of the high scrap rate.

I'm just speculating and could go on and on. But TV's have become a lot like appliances. There are only a few factories in the world that make a basic refrigerator with top freezer. The cost to build the tooling to make them is more than the money you get. There just isn't any margin those simple fridges. So everyone contracts with the few people who own a factory set up to produce them. TV's are like that. The factories are expensive to build and the margins on the TV's have eroded over the years. Easy to lose money if you are off on your volume by just 5%.
 
A

allargon

Audioholic General
Mitsubishi and Visio are making money.

Maybe the tier 0 and tier 1 (OK--Mits is psuedo tier 1) manufacturers need to lower their darned prices. Panasonic already lowered their resolutions on the lower end plasmas.
 
P

PearlcorderS701

Banned
I think it's more along the lines of what Adam was saying -- not that all the other points aren't valid and most likely have a lot to do with it too; we're in the exact same boat as the scenario Adam outlined, in that yeah, I REALLY want a larger screen for our main living room, but the economics just aren't there...I mean, my living is based on a freelance schedule, and where we live jobs are far from plenty. My wife has been cut back to part time. Our savings is dwindling faster than a stripper's clothes in a VIP room, and luxuries like a bigger TV screen just seem like a fantasy right now because other things MUST come first (even though I am discussing possibilities with BMX and others in my bigger screen size thread).

It sucks. It's a big **** sandwich that most of us have to take a bite of (the economy and scaling back on luxuries like big screen televisions). But it's just reality. :mad::mad::mad:
 
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