Watch the final booth
Watch the final booth tour on ifa-international.org Connected TV It’s All About The Customer Funai competes on form and function Ebine Yasuhito President, Funai Funai President Yasuhito Ebine tells IFA International why the current market is loaded with opportunity rather than uncertainty... Interview by Gary Smith We continue to expand our operations and brand, especially in the Central and Eastern European markets. The financial climate is complicating our strategy in Europe, but we are trying not to fight on prices. Instead, we are working on our product portfolio and enlarging our offer in order to respond to market’s needs. Knowing your customer is the key to success and we hope that, in these challenging times, this is where we have found our opportunity. In which product areas are you seeing growth? Mainly in TVs. As you can see on our booth here at IFA, we are showcasing several new products, including our 3D and super-slim TV models. We are also presenting the Katana range, featuring screens from 19-40 inches. These are designed to look great in any interior and are only 1.6 inches thick. The range also features Full HD 1080p, which enables the full use of Blu-ray. Can you tell us more about the Funai Production System (FPR)? The product cycle for consumer electronics continues to accelerate and significant losses can result when each change in the cycle requires equipment to be upgraded. It was in response to this challenge that we introduced the Funai Production System. We implement day-today improvements to the system, because it is designed to accommodate “(…) we are working on our product portfolio and enlarging our offer in order to respond to market’s needs.” almost unlimited increases in productivity. For example, our production line is divided into manual-labour and mechanised segments, which allows for unrestricted product-specific control. Hall 3.2 Stand 132 The Outlook Is Cloud Connectivity and convenience power Toshiba into the future The worlds of IT and CE are merging and converging at an ever increasing pace — and this trend will accelerate as a new generation of cloud services allows consumers to access content on a range of interconnected devices. Interview by Joanna Stephens This is the view of Thomas Teckentrup, General Manager of Toshiba Europe’s Software and Services Division, who is responsible for the contentand software-related activities of the Japanese giant’s European operations, including the development of cloud-based content services. We are at the start of a revolution in connectivity “that will continue far into the future”, Teckentrup said: “Today, TVs can connect directly to the cloud and provide quick and convenient access to a range of quality content in HD or even 3D. Consumers can now use various digital devices to share information, c o m m u n i c a t e a n d recommend content to each other. The old connectivity limitations between different devices are fading away.” This throws up challenges for device manufacturers, Teckentrup said, such as how to access and discover content, how to communicate in social networks and how to connect devices both to each other and the Internet. “And last but not least, how to provide convenience-of-use and operation,” he added. TV apps are one way of providing easy access to content and services. Last year, Toshiba introduced Toshiba Places, a cloud-based service offering video, music, news, social communication, and video- and picturesharing. “Apps provide choice to the consumer and make TVs more futureproof,” Teckentrup said, reporting that at IFA, Toshiba is announcing new VOD 3D services from Acetrax, Maxdome and Viewster, and new music services from 7digital and Aupeo. But one thing is “absolutely for sure”, Teckentrup concluded: “When it comes to TV, it’s all about content.” And when a TV is connected to the cloud, it can provide more choice of content, Thomas Teckentrup General Manager of Toshiba Europe’s Software and Services Division better access to content, and more options as to how, and with whom, consumers enjoy content. “Those, we believe, are the things that are driving the consumer’s desire for a richer TV experience,” he said. Hall 21 Stand 101 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 5 th September 2011 31
