MARKETS & TECHNOLOGY
MARKETS & TECHNOLOGY TRENDS We’re Stronger Than Ever Upbeat Outlook for 2009 IFA… exciting trends set to drive the market .../ Cont’d. from Page 1 With trends announced by GfK, DisplaySearch and other major industry analysts aligning, it appears that Europe will be set in Q4 to help drive the world out of its economic downturn. Articles on the following pages featuring these outlooks set the stage for what will be an extraordinarily important IFA in terms of working towards a common goal for a bright future. Fascinating, innovative and in harmony with the environment Exciting new screen technologies, 3D images, entertainment, navigation and communication using portable terminals, wireless media in the networked home – IFA this year introduces the latest trends from every sector of the industry. The new TV screens: Greater contrast, less TRENDS AT IFA 2009 energy, more clearly defined movement Energy efficiency, further improvements in picture quality, especially on LCD televisions, and even slimmer units – in 2009 at IFA these are the main trends in the continuing development of TV technology. LED backlighting for LCD screens, still more of a subject for the future at IFA 2008, is now becoming well established with a whole range of new models. The individual LED light cells can be controlled to match the brightness specifications of the picture content and this enables much higher contrast levels to be achieved while also conserving energy. The plasma screens on show at IFA 2009 also have reduced energy consumption. With such developments manufacturers are continuing in the direction that they set in 2008. The new technology also enables slimmer units to be produced. As a result IFA will feature the prototypes of larger TV screens, which are thinner than ever, as little as 9 millimetres (approx. 1/3 inch). There is also a new screen format which points the way forward: one of the superstars among the latest television sets will be a model with a picture ratio of 21:9, the same as that used to screen movies in Cinemascope. Wireless and easy to use: pictures and sound in the home network High definition images can now be transferred to the screen, wirelessly, without any compression, and with high definition multi-channel sound, in accordance with the new Wireless HD standard. Over short distances of 20 metres, the radio link operates reliably and without any problems, and at extremely high frequencies of around 60 gigahertz. Wireless HD is likely to develop to augment the HDMI connection, and the first sets with built-in transmitters and receivers for wireless HD will be on show at IFA 2009. IFA will also be demonstrating many new examples of streaming for audio and video applications, including a wide range of media players as well as many new media servers and NAS drives, holding images, music and films that can be played on all loudspeakers and screens throughout the home. Hard disc archive, online music and Internet radio: hi-fi and networks are inseparable For hi-fi enthusiasts a network connection is increasingly being taken for granted. Nowadays music is mainly bought online, computer hard drives are gradually replacing racks of CDs as a sound archive, and network clients can either play a private repertoire by themselves or feed it to a hi-fi system. The next logical step is for devices, which, via the home network, can be used to access the archive contained on a hard drive, as well as often also serving as receivers for internet radio services. Special providers can offer tens of thousands of radio stations from all over the world, sorted according to genre or region, and providing yet another attractive source of entertainment and information. Mobile entertainment, navigation and communication: IFA presents the entire range MP3 players, navigation devices, smart phones with browsers and emailprograms – it is now virtually impossible to separate the different functions available on mobile terminals. IFA 2009 can offer new items to suit every kind of user. To this end, in this preview edition of IFA International, we are featuring “nomadic” technologies on show… Home appliances add to the recipe This will be the second time that the leading brands in consumer electronics and in the household appliance industry have been displayed together, with an even more extensive presentation on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. IFA offers a unique combination of these markets, and provides the ideal platform for international dealers, buyers, consumers and the industry. l 14 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday, 31st August 2009
at w w w.ifa-international.org MARKETS & TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Download Podcast Download Video at w w w.ifa-international.org The TV Market Outlook DisplaySearch explains the past and projects the future Paul Gray, director of TV Research at DisplaySearch The TV market has been one of the most resilient over the past year of financial turmoil. We asked Paul Gray, director of TV Research at DisplaySearch for his vision of the market today and what he sees on the horizon… I think everybody expected that the economic crisis would be seen immediately in terms of consumers’ panicking and deciding not to spend. But actually, it’s not been true at all. Actually, the market has steamed ahead and TVs have had a nice year so far. And LCDs? As we said, I know from last year from 2008-2009 sale volumes have been up, but prices have been lowered. Yes, it’s interesting to see how much price falls have driven the market. I think that everybody is still very cautious. We know that component prices especially for panels will rise, going late into this year as the prices rises in the middle of year come through. It’ll be interesting to see how that will affect consumers in the future. We saw late last year that LCD panel prices dropped dramatically, as the effect of less business spending on notebooks, PCs, and monitors fed through to the TV market. So the cheap TVs we’re seeing are a result of this. What we’re seeing now is the demand, especially for China for 32- to 36- inch TVs is refuelling those fabs, so we’re beginning to see shortages and panel prices on the rise again. What is going to happen in autumn however is that as more panel fabs come online, in turn, the prices and capacities are expected to fall again. And those falls in due course will feed through to the consumers. Do you see any companies falling by the wayside in the next year? I think that certain companies will need to make a decision on whether they can afford to support two technologies, LCD and plasma. As there is less money to be made in the industry and margins are being compressed, people will be forced to make hard decisions. Again, we have seen that some manufacturers are suffering more than others. The Koreans seems to be going well. Why do you think that is? The main reason is exchange rates. If you’ve looked at the currency movements in the past 18 months; compared to the dollar, the Korean won is about 40% cheaper. So they have this huge competitive advantage that is offered up to them, and they are determined to take advantage of it. So the Japanese companies are somewhat struggling. What does next year look like for them? I think Japanese manufacturers have shown themselves to be extremely cautious this year. The high value of the yen is a huge problem for them, so they’re doing two things. The first one is that they’re restructuring and making very hard choices about where they specialise. And secondly, they’re making more products that have true a value for the consumer. l 42" PDP vs. LCD Comparisons • With the launch of new 2009 models (with higher luminous efficiency) in February-March '09, Plasma panel makers can continue to reduce panel costs and prices below LCD (price increases) throughout 2009. • These are price comparison of 42" HD/1080p LCD Panel + power supply prices and 42" HD Plasma Panel + power supply + optical filter prices. 0 0 42" 720p 60Hz LCD 42" 1080p 120 Hz LCD 42" HD PDP 0 0 0 0 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-10 Jun-10 Cleverdis, July 2009 (Source: Monthly Large-area LCD and Plasma Pricing Report) Copyright © 2009 DisplaySearch - All Worldwide Rights Reserved - Confidential IFA International • Monday, 31st August 2009 www.ifa-international.org 15
