As patient, and vigilant, Zenith shareholders, it seems to me we have much to be thankful for this year:
1. An American digital TV standard has finally been approved.
2. Channels for digital TV transmissions have finally been allocated to broadcasters and a phase-in period has been mandated.
3. The term "HDTV" seems to be on its way to becoming a household word. The American public seems to know something big is coming, and they are looking forward to it.
4. There appear to be more positive reports above HDTV and fewer negative ones (i.e,too expensive, everyone will wait until prices come down, can't see the difference in quality, maybe it will never happen, etc.) There are more and more stories about happy people with smiling faces who have just experienced HDTV and want to have one.
5. Zenith has some great engineers and a lot of dedicated employees.
6. Zenith, a great American company, and LGE, a great Korean company, are partners as the new year approaches and HDTV is introduced to the largest televison market in the world.
7. The last ten tough years are behind us, and 1998 is upon us.
Good luck to Pete Willmott, John Koo and all of the others who are involved with the search for a new CEO and the planning that will make the ZE/LGE partnership a win/win situation.
I'm an investor who got involved with Zenith, because I thought it was an opportunity to make some money, and I do my best to understand the technical side of Zenith's business, but over the years I've grown quite fond of the company, and I am looking forward to being part of the Zenith turnaround story and being a small part of American business history. I want to be able to say, "I told you so!" If the ZE/LGE partnership succeeds (and I obviously believe it will, because I'm still a shareholder), if Zenith becomes profitable again and the company becomes a big HDTV player, then,in my humble opinion, this turnaround will make business history. It's a dramatic story: A global company working to strengthen a great American institution, and, with both companies working in partnership for the benefit of each other, making Zenith shine again. The shareholders will love it, the American public will love it, the American business community will love it, and American government will love it.
Happy Thankgiving to all. |
