Philips pondering what to do with low-margin TV business

by Steven Kim, posted Jan 23rd 2008 at 9:07AM

The chief executive at Philips stated in a press conference that the company is considering "all feasible options" with respect to what to do with its TV business. The company would like to see higher margins from this business line, but whether this can be done by tuning its product offerings and retailers remains to be seen. In the worst case, the TV business could be sold off entirely. The fierce competition in the display market has already made for some strategic exits; could the venerable Philips be next? We'd suggest the company take a page from Pioneer's Kuro playbook in securing the high ground and emphasize high performance, not high concept. Work on the light coming from the display, not from around the bezel.

[Via HDTV Reviews]

Filed under: Industry, Displays, Philips

Tags: Philips

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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Xander @ Jan 23rd 2008 9:25AM

According to the full interview in Dutch newspapers, the Philips LCD screens and especially the Ambilight ones, create very high profit margins in Europe and Asia.

It seems that only the US market is not buying them.

Highest Ranked

WallyB @ Jan 23rd 2008 9:27AM

Well put Steve. Stop the gimmicks and put out a product that people want to buy.

Neutral

cbhwr @ Jan 23rd 2008 3:50PM

Seriously? I've been to ca every store in town displaying flatscreens, and the Philips LCD ones (most certainly the 9xxx ones) outdo just about all other ones. Some Sonys can keep up, some plasmas manages to look good in certain settings.
Add to that that Philips tends to get good praises and awards (E.G. EISA), and I'm puzzled about why people might not want to buy them.

Personally, I've currently shortlisted 1 Philips for the livingroom, 1 Sony for the bedroom unless someone can point me towards an affordable 37-40" plasma i (at least) 720p.

/G

Highly Ranked

alienclays @ Jan 23rd 2008 9:56AM

i actually like ambilight a lot. for very little add on in price it does make a screen feel a lot bigger. but if they are looking for profit margins competing with visio's at walmart with 1500:1 contrast ratios they better think twice.

Highly Ranked

massive_98 @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:51AM

The problem with their tv's is for a little bit more you can get a Sony or a Samsung.

Neutral

Harry @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:54AM

I just bought a 42" ambilight - that replaced an HP MediaSmart that didn't look so good (very poor black detail). I usually don't care for Philips products, but this is a good TV for a good price. I don't use Ambilight, so they could delete that (you can turn it off). I paid $400 less than the HP for the Philips, and honestly could have paid a bit more for it.

I also have one of the bargain Olevia TVs, and while it looks good, it takes *forever* for the channels to change. Higher end TVs seem to put their money into processing, among other things, so you get what you pay for.

Philips makes a nice TV. I'm very pleased. I'd hate to see them leave the market.

Highly Ranked

Joe @ Jan 23rd 2008 2:50PM

Ambilight is actually a really great idea based on solid science and research.
The problem ambilight has is that it needs to be installed to see the difference. You can't have it sitting in a wall in best buy next to 100 other sets and see the difference.

Beyond making the screen feel bigger it will make the apparent blacks blacker. Black is only seen in relation to the ambient light level. This idea has been used in professional settings for decades. Telecine bays, where they transfer your films to video and DVD have a very similar back light that does not reflect back on to the face of the screen.

Phillips has a lot of very good IP that will make displays and TV's better to watch. If they go away only Samsung, Sony,and a handful of tech startups will be making new display technology.

Neutral

GhostDoggy @ Jan 24th 2008 5:41AM

Considering that LG.Philips is also an OEM supplier of glass to many low-end Vizios of the world, I would not be surprised at all if they will seek to short-supply those channels in order to a) strangle the Vizios of the world, while b) bolstering their more expensive retail channel products.

I see the same from others OEM suppliers as well.

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