Japanese DTV "attack":
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Panasonic) will start marketing this summer in the U.S. a set-top box that allows conventional television sets to show digital programs, company officials said Wednesday. The Osaka-based electronics manufacturer scheduled the release ahead of the planned November launch of land-based digital broadcasting in the U.S. Pricing and other details
are still undecided.
Other consumer electronics heavyweights, including Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp., Sharp Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., are preparing to put similar products on the U.S. market. Digital broadcasting easily exceeds analog in terms of multi-channel capability, offering an optimum way of delivering high-definition and interactive TV. U.S. land-based analog broadcasters are expected to switch to digital by 2006, analysts said.
Matsushita, which foresees the world market for digital TV tuners, including set-top boxes, reaching 42 billion dollars a year in 2000, aims to take a 20-30% share.
U.S. demand for TVs totaled 24 million sets in 1997, and is expected to increasingly shift to the digital format.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Thursday morning edition) |
