Sony may be setting up an attack on Vizio and other low-cost LCD television brands with a budget line of its own.
Speaking to “market sources,” DigiTimes says Sony will introduce the “B Series” in 32-inch and 40-inch models, priced lower than the brand’s existing S-series. The 32-inch TV could cost the equivalent of $463, or even lower, according to the report.
To bring costs down, Sony will reportedly outsource TV production to Taiwan, where manufacturing is cheaper and more flexible. The electronics giant closed one of its two television plants in Japan in January. If Sony finds success with its B-Series, it’ll pressure other manufacturers to outsource as well, the sources say.
If the reports are true, this would be a dramatic decision for Sony, which traditionally prides itself on offering higher-end, but higher-priced products. “I think it’s important to point out there is a very big difference between the high-end 1080p sets (from Sony) and the low-end kind of Vizio and Chinese manufacturer semi non-HD sets,” Sony executive vice president Robert Wiesenthal told analysts in May 2008, responding to Vizio storming the HDTV market (of course Vizio makes full 1080p sets, too).
Sony’s attitude appears to be changing across its product line, not just for televisions. In July, Sony’s IT products vice president Mike Abary admitted to Laptop Magazine that the company’s high-priced mentality hurt its computing division, pointing to “a paradigm shift in the marketplace that has rendered Sony products to be seconded [sic] guessed in terms of its competitiveness by consumers.”
Abary bemoaned what he called a “race to the bottom” in computing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony’s TV unit is begrudgingly adapting to the same trend in HDTVs.
Regardless of whether Sony is dying a little on the inside, I’m excited to see whether the B-Series is for real. Vizio makes good televisions, but its only competition right now is from lesser-known brands such as Dynex, Proscan and Viore. When shopping for a new set, it would be nice to see another familiar face at the low end.
3 Comments
Maybe it's a good idea. At least you will know the quality should
be okay. Especially if they add some extra features like 1080P,
that other low budget lcd's don't have.
ZAP.
About this category
LCD TV
- Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens are often used for computer screens, but also make up the flat-screen television market together with Plasma TVs. The fact that a television uses Plasma or LCD technique doesn’t say much about the image quality of the television, neither does it say something about resolution or viewing angle. LCD TVs often come in a smaller size than their Plasma counterparts, but tend to have slightly lower power consumption.More about this
Most popular headlines
Microsoft releases Windows 7 SP1 Beta (5)
- Thu 29 Jul 00:12 by wconeybeer
- Software
Microsoft has officially launched the public beta test for Windows 7 Service Pack 1, an update package for the Windows 7 operating system that includes an array of updates and fixes for issues that have been discovered since the software began shipping.
Seagate: Hybrid SSD-HDDs will rule the future (5)
- Tue 27 Jul 02:29 by wconeybeer
- Hard Disk Drives, Industry
The future of hard disk drives will be flash hybrids, according to a high ranking Seagate executive. The statement regarding the predicted popularity of the hybrid drives coincides with the release of the company’s new Momentus XT drive, which is being billed as the world’s fastest 2.5” hard drive.
CD era one step closer to retirement? (19)
- Fri 23 Jul 00:00 by Randomus
- Music
The music industry continues to struggle as it looks for ways to close the technological gap that has seen CD sales continue to slide.
Foremay ships world's largest 2TB SSD (11)
- Mon 26 Jul 20:30 by Randomus
- Solid State (ssd)
Foremay has introduced a 1TB 2.5" SATA solid-state drive alongside the industry-leading 2TB 3.5" SATA SSD, as the company expects to see an increased demand in SSD products for the enterprise.
