Home Electronics Industry News -- March 2001
NOTE: This page is an archive for previously posted news stories from March 2001 - Since most of the links are now inactive, they have been removed. However, the headlines and summaries are still posted to historically document the news headlines from the dates listed.
03/31/01
SONY Reorganization Combines Electronics
SONY seems to change its corporate structure almost as much as it brings out new product models.
03/30/01
Congressman Issa To Vice-Chair High Tech Subcommittee
Former CEA official, former CEO of Directed Electronics, and recently elected congressman Darrell Issa has a strategic opportunity to exprress his views as the new vice-chair of a key congressional submittee thats address high-tech issues.
03/29/01
Sears Wrests Ward's Repair Biz
Montgomery Wards may be going out of business, but Sears is picking up the service contracts on many of the products purchased by former Ward's customers.
03/28/01
Aiwa Halves Workforce
In a bold restructuring plan, Aiwa, popular maker of mini-systems and other portable audio components, is cutting its workforce by 50% and closing several factories. The major share of Aiwa is owned by SONY.
03/27/01
2001 Academy Awards
For those of you missed it, here is a listing of the 2001 Academy Award Winners. These will definitely be on my list of future DVD purchases.
Kenwood Says May Tie Up With Thomson Unit
Kenwood announces a manufacturing alliance with Thomson.
03/26/01
Sharp Shooter
LCD, Plasma, and DLP are about to joined by another new video display technology, LCOS(Liquid Crystal On Silicon). This new technology promises to make large flat panel and projection TVs less expensive. To find out more details on this, check out the report by New Scientist.
03/25/01
Watching The Body
HDTV might be slow catching on in the home entertainment arena, but the medical profession is finding exciting uses in the medical research and application arena.
03/24/01
Onkyo Debuts A/V Receiver With Dolby Pro-Logic II
Following a similar announcement earlier by Kenwood, Onkyo begins its rollout of A/V Receivers equipped with the Dolby Pro-Logic II processor. TX-DS595 will retail for a price of $529.95 and, in addition to DPLII, will also have Dolby Digital and DTS processing.
03/23/01
Samsung Offers One-stop Entertainment With Multi-Format DVD/VHS Player
It's a DVD player! Its a VCR! It's an MP3 player! It's all that and more, as Samsung unveils its DVD/VHS combo unit with CD-R and MP3 playback capabilities.
03/22/01
Niles Offers Single-Speaker Stereo...
Stereo without two speakers? How'd they do that? Find out this latest innovation by Niles.
03/21/01
SONY Announces Top DVDs And CDs Voted To Entertain Astronauts In International Space Station
The earthlings have spoken! The votes have been tabulated and the selections for the CD and DVD library for the International Space Station are finalized. For the full, surprising, results, check out the above press release from SONY.
03/20/01
DBS Suppliers Hit Subscriber Records
The popularity of home satellite TV systems continues to increase as DirecTV and DISH Network sign up record numbers of new subscribers, despite competition from Cable, DVD, and other entertainment options.
Fujitsu Announces Signifigant Price Reductions on Two Plasma Slimscreen Display Monitors
Plasma, Plasma, Plasma! OK, they still aren't exactly cheap, but the price trend continues downward and the Plasma Screen alternative gains more public acceptance. With that in mind, Fujitsu announces major price drops on two of its popular models, the PDS-4222 and PDS-4214.
03/19/01
Encrypting Free, Over-the-Air Television Could Undermine Customary Home Recording Rights...
The Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) has formally expressed concerns to the FCC regarding the intentions of Television Broadcasters to "scramble" DTV signals.
03/18/01
Kenwood USA Announces New Premium Branded Product Line For The U.S. Home Market
In an effort to increase its visibility in the high-end audio and home theater market, Kenwood introduces its "Sovereign" line of AV components.
03/17/01
Digital Television From RCA Reaches New Levels Of Consumer Affordability
In an effort to nail down the U.S. consumer market in DTV products, Thomson (RCA) announces an aggressive pricing strategy for its HDTV sets, with some prices dropping as much as 20% from last year.
Report Predicts Digi-cam Penetration To Double In '01
Home Theater isn't the only entertainment option capturing the U.S. consumer's pocket book. Digital imaging products, such as digital cameras, are disappearing from store shelves as fast that they appear.
03/16/01
SONY Takes One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For DVD
DVD has not only conquered the earthbound consumer, but now is poised to be the prinicple mode of entertainment on the International Space Station.
03/15/01
Parasound Debuts Its ZoneMaster Z-12, Bridgeable, 12-Channel Amplifier For Custom Installation And Home Theatre
Looking for the ultimate multi-room, multi-channel amplifier? Able to deliver 50 Watts-per-Channel and having individual inputs for each channel, the ZoneMaster Z-12 may just be the perfect solution for either expanable home theater or multi-room applications.
03/14/01
Digital TV Deadline In Italy
2006 is not only the target date for DTV conversion in the U.S., but Italian Broadcasters have been put on notice by the Italian Senate that they must go all digital by that date.
03/13/01
i.LINK HDTVs Make Debut
After a slight delay, SONY is back in the market with a whole new crop of integrated HDTVs in both direct view and projection format, featuring its i-Link interface and 16X9 screen aspect ratios. Prices start at $4,000.
Expanding SACD To Home Theater
In more SONY news, SACD players will be arriving on the market with price points as low as $299. In addition, SONY is also introducing its first home theater system with a 5-Disc DVD/CD changer, as well as a new line of AV Receivers with Surround EX and DTS Matrix decoders.
03/12/01
Sony MVC-CD300 Increases Quality And Lowers Price
Built on the success of last year's MVC-CD1000 digital still camera, which was the first to use CD recording media, SONY introduces two new models that are much more compact and offer CD-RW capability as well
03/11/01
Seven Firms Tune Up DVD+RW Format Products
From recordable DVD players to recordable DVD computer drives, companies such as Philips, Sony, Yamaha, and HP are embracing the DVD+RW format. With its compatibility with most home DVD players, DVD+RW proponents are betting on its acceptance in both the consumer and professional markets. However, Pioneer and others are holding strong with their competing DVD-RW format.
03/10/01
Camcorder Popularity On The Rise. Survey Of Owners Details Desires, Preferences
Camcorders a more popular than ever, with ever increasing sales in both analog and digital formats. In fact, many consumers are purchasing their second, or third camcorder.
03/09/01
Will People Clamor For ITV?
The future of true Interactive TV was the hot topic at this year's Digital Hollywood Conference, held this past week.
03/08/01
Fisher Debuts Three Versatile DVD-Video Systems Offering Elegant Home Theater Solutions
Fisher (Sanyo) unveils its concept in Home-Theater-In-A-Box Systems, by introducing four models, starting at $449. Each model includes DVD playback, surround sound receiver, and speakers.
03/07/01
Circuit City Sales Decline In Fiscal Q4, Year
Once the dominant force in nationwide CE retailing, Circuit City has been experiencing declining sales since its leaving the appliance market. On the bright side, however, sales have increased in the new digital technology product sector.
03/06/01
Lab Squeezes HDTV Into Standard TV Channel
One of the obstactles towards the institution of HDTV is the fact the bandwidth required to transmit HDTV signals is wider than that for conventional TV broadcasts. This has been a particular problem in preventing Cable Systems from passing HD signals. Now, the US Dept of Energy's Los Alamos Lab has announced a new encoding system that allows an entire HDTV signal to take up the same amount of space as a normal analog TV signal.
03/05/01
Personal TV Companies Continue To Price Themselves Out Of The Market
Since its introduction a few years ago, the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) has a devoted owner following, however, due to its higher relative cost when compared to the typical VCR, and the cost of monthly program service fees, the future of these devices may be in doubt.
03/04/01
Good Guys Cuts 10 Percent Of Workforce
In a continuing effort to remain competitive, Good Guys lays off 10% of its workforce, including both sales and coporate positions. The question is, can the remaining staff support sales growth, or is Good Guys just digging in for a potential decline in sales?
03/03/01
Philips To Cede Control Of Marantz
European Electronics Giant, Philips, decides to let Marantz, formerly part of its operation, take control of its own market strategy and direction, while Philips still maintains a minority interest.
03/02/01
Earthquake Rattles Seattle's CE Retailers
The Seattle earthquake created minor damage to store fronts and offices of several CE retailers, however, most storefronts are still up and running.
03/01/01
DTV Sales Surge In January
Despite conflicts between regulators, broadcasters, and manufacturers over the pace of DTV programming implementation, the sales of DTVs and related products continue on an upward pace.
For additional News Stories check out my Home Electronics Industry News Archives.
