MEET THE VISIONARIES
MEET THE VISIONARIES VIDEO Projecting Into The Future Mitsubishi is focussed on expanding the Home Theatre market in Europe Akihiro Kambara, Manager, Marketing Section, Visual Information Systems at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Living Environment & Digital Media Equipment Group is at IFA to introduce two new projectors. The high-end HC 6000 and the entry level HC 4900 are both Full HD. The HC 4900 is priced below 2000 euros and will, Kambara San believes, open up a whole new market for Home Theatre… The HC 4900 is the first ever 1080p projector priced at below 2000 euros and I believe that it has come to the market at just the right moment. We are approaching Christmas, which will kick-start the market, and then next year we have the Olympic Games which will be broadcast entirely in HD. Plus 2008 there’s the European Football Champion-ships. 2008- 2010 is going to be a very important period for Mitsubishi. What technological advances were central to the introduction of a sub 2000 euros Full HD projector ? We have developed a new chassis for the circuit board and optical lenses that use the automatic iris function which offers a very high contrast ratio. On the HC 6000 it’s 13 000:1 and on the HC 4900 it’s 7500:1. And although it’s not particularly related to overall cost we are very proud of the new Sirocco fan system. By redesigning the blades we have managed to make the fan very quiet. It produces 19 Db of noise which is quieter than airconditioning systems. We actually see that feature as having Wife Acceptance Factor which we, like everybody these days, are obliged to take on board when designing products. What sort of reaction have you had from dealers to these new models ? They’re very excited. We believe that the offer is really a good example of ‘magic pricing’. And following last year’s broadcast of the Champions League in HD, 1080p is now much more high profile in Germany, so I think the end-users are ready for a product like this. European broadcasters are still pretty slow in bringing HD channels to the market. What can you do to encourage them ? We are part of the BDA and we actively lobby broadcasters in Europe, but we are happy to see that Blu-ray and HD DVD are both really starting to build momentum and there are much cheaper players for both formats. Blu-ray players are now available for less than 500 euros and there is an entry level HD DVD player for below 300 euros. Plus Blockbuster recently announ-ced that they will be stocking Blu-ray discs. This is a very significant move because the chain has around 6000 premises. And then there’s the first generation of HD Camcorders. All in all, we think we’ve brought these products to the market at the right time. HD was first introduced in 2000 and the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan saw sales explode in those two countries. What are HD services like in Japan now ? There are now eight public free to air HD channels in Japan plus two PPV channels. 1080p is now fully understood by the consumer and increasingly the norm. Although I said that Europe is behind we are seeing a significant shift in attitudes with the idea of 1080 becoming more and more aspirational. I think that it represents a big opportunity for retailers, especially at the high-end of the market where profit margins are significantly larger than entry-level products. But the whole point about entrylevel is that it is not wholly about profit, it’s more about market penetration. Can you give us some insight into the sales targets that Mitsubishi has set itself ? We’re hoping to sell something in the region of 30 000 units of both models by the end of 2008 and most of all we are determined to stay in the top spot for Home Theatre. We were number one in Q1 of this year but the sector is undeniably becoming more competitive. The market is so fast moving and addicted to innovation. What else might we see from Mitsubishi in the next 12 months ? We’re looking at many options but it’s certain that we’ll be introducing new lighting devices. We know that we owe it to our retail partners to keep pushing. If we can keep them excited then that flows through to the end-users. We’ve already seen an amazing reaction to our new projectors here at IFA from the public. I’d like to thank Paramount Pictures for providing us with some top quality content in the form of Mission Impossible III and Dream Girls. People are queuing to watch them on our booth which is very gratifying. Content really is the key to opening up the Home Theatre market. When the public see what films like those look like in HD, it builds a buzz. Finally… when do you think we might see a sub 1000 euros 1080p projector ? We already sell a 720p projector for 990 euros and while I know that it is not 1080, 720p projectors nevertheless cost 2990 euros in 2005. So I think it’s reasonable to speculate that we’ll see one before the end of the decade. IFA International • Wednesday, 5 th September 2007 15
