PC/TVs with Chromatic inside don't sell. Phillips' Year 2000 box shipped 500 units,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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PC-TV Products Targeted at the Masses Fall Short: Thomson Rethinks Convergence Product Line in '98
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Companies looking for volume sales of high-priced convergence products in 1998 are unlikely to score with mainstream consumers and should consider more narrow markets for their PC-TV hardware.
Thomson Consumer Electronics and Compaq Computer Corp. [CPQ], companies that pride themselves on selling products to mass-market America, have been unsuccessful with PC Theatre, indicating the market is not ready to accept a high-priced PC-TV.
Gateway 2000 Inc. [GATE] has met with similarly weak demand for its PC-TV Destination product over the year and had to pull it from retail. The company is looking beyond the consumer market and trying to sell Destination to businesses. To address the needs of that market, the company refashioned Destination into a videoconferencing product through a partnership with VTEL Corp. [VTEL] and began selling it in November.
Gateway plans to continue updating Destination and plans to ship the next version in March.
It's too early to gauge how successful Philips Electronics North America Corp. [PHG] will be at selling its DVX8000 Multimedia Home Theater system, but early demand for the high-end product has been good. The product shipped in November to a very targeted group of high-end retailers. In the first three weeks on the market, the company shipped about 500 units. Multimedia Week was unable to reach company officials to get a further update on sales.
Philips executives believe their sales approach with PC-TV products will be more effective than the approach taken by other vendors because it taps into personnel with the expertise to demonstrate the product and sell consumers on its benefits. (see Sept. 8, 1997, for related story.)
No More PC Theatre Dollars
PC Theatre sales have been so disappointing that Jim Meyer, Thomson executive vice president, said the company will not put any more money into the product in the short term. However, he did not rule out selling a lower-cost convergence product with Compaq.
Asking consumers to hell out more than $4,000 for such a product became even more difficult over the last six months because of competition from low-cost PCs and DVD.
Thomson will redirect its convergence focus for 1998 toward multimedia monitors bearing the Proscan brand name. The company is betting demand for DVD players, Internet access devices and digital set-top converters will spur consumers to buy high-grade monitors to attach to those products.
To that end, the first two monitors in the line (the 36-inch PS36800 and the 32-inch PS32800) will include multiple outputs for connection to entertainment and information appliances and a USB port in the front. The monitors will feature 800x600 SVGA resolution, Thomson's latest Digital Precision Pitch picture tubes and a.78 mm dot pitch.
Thomson officials indicated a willingness to talk with computer companies interested in selling the products as part of PC-TVs, but Thomson wants to market them as a flexible peripheral that can attach to many devices. In addition to selling the products to the consumer markets, Thomson also expects to target business and schools. (Philips, 650/846-4300; Thomson, 317/587-3000.) |
