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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J Fieb who wrote (35504)	8/26/1998 3:13:00 PM
From: Don Dorsey	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 50808

THE GOOD GUYS! TO INTRODUCE DIGITAL HDTV TO THE PUGET SOUND BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- After years of anticipation over the arrival of high-definition television (HDTV), the wait is over! THE GOOD GUYS! (Nasdaq: GGUY) store in Bellevue will be selling and offering demonstrations of the first consumer digital televisions on Thursday, August 27 at 6:00 p.m. True high definition content will be used to display the incredible sharpness of the new sets. "The new digital TVs are going to amaze people! Not only will they display stunning, high definition broadcasts, they will even enhance existing broadcast, cable, DSS, and DVD offerings to a level that is truly exciting," said Robert Gunst, President and Chief Executive Officer. "So far the interest in HDTV has been phenomenal -- thousands of people recently stopped by our stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco for their first peek at HDTV. We expect to see the same level of enthusiasm in the Northwest, where the latest home entertainment products are always highly-anticipated." In the days ahead, additional THE GOOD GUYS! stores will be displaying and selling the new sets. THE GOOD GUYS! has also announced that in September they will be able to demonstrate HDTV full-time in all their stores with a proprietary programming system, affording them a capability few, if any, retailers will have. Digital televisions will eventually replace today's standard analog televisions. Among the first manufacturers to distribute digital HDTV-capable sets to retailers in the United States is Panasonic, and THE GOOD GUYS! will be among the first to have a model available for purchase in the Seattle-area. The set is a 56-inch, high-definition, cinema-style wide screen priced at $5,499. It also has the capability to enhance regular NTSC (broadcast, cable, DSS, DVD, VHS, etc.) by more than doubling the lines of resolution. It will require an optional set-top receiver to display HD broadcasts. The Bellevue THE GOOD GUYS! store, 601 106th Street N.E., is one of the first stores in the company to carry the product. Customers who are interested in learning more about the new digital HDTV-capable sets can come to the store where Sales Associates trained in digital HDTV will demonstrate the set's many features and show how HDTV will revolutionize TV viewing. THE GOOD GUYS! is a leading specialty retailer of high quality, brand name consumer electronics. THE GOOD GUYS! has 77 stores in California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. SOURCE The Good Guys! -0- 08/26/98 /NOTE TO EDITORS: If you're interested in previewing HDTV, there will be demos available at THE GOOD GUYS! Bellevue store Thursday, August 27 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Friday, August 28 starting at 10:00 a.m. and continuing through Sunday, August 30 at 6:00 p.m. Special demos for the press will be available starting at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. Appointments can be arranged for interested parties by calling Parsons & Associates at 206-789-5668./ /CONTACT: Joanie Parsons of Parsons & Associates, 206-789-5668, or fax, 206-706-7969, or ParsonsAsc@aol.com, for THE GOOD GUYS!/ /Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 108403/ (GGUY) CO: Good Guys! ST: California, Washington, Nevada, Oregon IN: REA CPR SU: PDT

To: J Fieb who wrote (35504)	8/26/1998 5:31:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

DVD in China. Mostly an export market for now. When it starts selling in China, The decoder market will be shared(SGS Thomson mention)........................................... asiansources.com DVD - Technology Update CHINA - Makers drawn between allure of DVD and current lines Although DVD products have already entered the China market, DVD remains a niche line for enthusiasts. Most existing and would-be DVD player manufacturers in China have also been successful makers of VCD players over the past few years and they still hold onto quite a considerable market share for these products. Now these companies find themselves in something of a dilemma. If they promote DVD, they must reduce capital being funneled into VCD development. On the other hand, if makers do not start DVD production, they are likely to lose market position in the likely event that DVD prevails in the near future. Although the current sluggish demand for DVD players in the domestic market does not guarantee profits, a brighter outlook is so alluring that no manufacturer can afford to ignore it. Lack of local demand pushes export drive Developing overseas markets seems to be a solution to current low domestic demand. Many DVD makers hope that exports to overseas markets will help them launch their mass-production schemes and qualify them for early membership in the DVD club. Han Yongsheng, chief of the DVD division at Fujian Star Group Corp., a leading manufacturer of computing and digital products in China, said: "We held a press conference on February 15th this year in Beijing to introduce our new DVD player. Our most optimistic prediction for domestic sales is 10,000 a year, but we are expecting to export 50,000 to 100,000 DVD players to overseas markets in the first year. We are able to change the design to support CSS regional codes for different country's customers." A spokesman for Thakral, headquartered in Singapore, admitted that the company's trial promotion of DVD players in the China market has not been very successful. However, China is a large market of great importance to the company, and Thakral will continue to pay close attention to the market trends there. Qingdao HiSense has also developed its own DVD players, but the company has no plans for domestic promotion yet. An executive of the company's marketing department, said: "We will focus on the overseas market for the whole of 1998 and we have been negotiating contracts with several foreign customers. Our export-focused marketing policy will not change until next year." At present, the major countries receiving DVD exports from China include Australia, Southeast Asia, North America and Europe. Demand in Southeast Asia is expected to fall due to the economic crisis. Competition to grow in China's DVD decoder market Another factor that is hampering domestic sales of DVD players is CSS decoding. Most DVD player makers have already acquired or are going to acquire a model that supports all the different CSS regional codes, but National Intellectual Property laws limit public awareness about this system. Up to now, the biggest supplier of decoding chips to the China market has been C-Cube. However, more and more semiconductor giants are hoping to get involved in this business. SGS-Thomson has set up a joint venture with Shenzhen SEG Electronics to sell SGS-Thomson's state-of-the-art DVD decoding chips to the China market. Once DVD hits the mainstream, the stake in the DVD decoder market is likely to be shared.