HDTVs

Sharp, Samsung, and a handful of other LCD makers have settled a price-fixing case that has set them back nearly $400 million.

According to Bloomberg, which obtained court papers filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, Sharp and Samsung paid $105 million and $82.7 million, respectively, for their alleged involvement in driving up prices for LCDs sold between 1999 and 2006. Chimei Innolux paid $78 million as part of the class action lawsuit's settlement.

The eight companies cited in the lawsuit paid a total of $388 million, Bloomberg … Read more

The global television market hit some tough times during the second quarter, a new study released today by research firm DisplaySearch has found.

According to DisplaySearch, worldwide TV shipments hit 55.5 million during the second quarter of 2011, representing a year-over-year decline of 1 percent. During the period, only LCD shipments were up over the prior year, jumping 6 percent to 44.5 million. Plasma shipments were down 6 percent to 4.2 million, while CRTs dropped 31 percent to land at 6.8 million worldwide.

During the first quarter of 2011, television shipments were up 1 percent compared to the same period in 2010. However, 55.2 million televisions shipped during the period.

Although things didn't look too great for the television market during the second quarter, DisplaySearch said that the market's decline was due mainly to tough comparisons against last year's figures. DisplaySearch vice president of TV research, Hisakazu Torii, said in a statement that the second quarter of 2010 was a strong growth period for the market because of "greater price erosion and more confident consumers."

"Due to weakening macro-economic conditions, similar to what happened during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the TV industry is becoming somewhat pessimistic and reducing inventory, especially in North America and Western Europe," Torii said in a statement.… Read more

Samsung's revenue was up during the second quarter, but the company wasn't able to stem its decline in net income.

During the period that ended June 30, the electronics maker generated revenue of 39.44 trillion Korean won ($37.4 billion), up 4 percent compared with the same period last year. However, the company's second-quarter profit of 3.51 trillion won ($3.3 billion) was off 18 percent compared with 2010.

According to Samsung, its mobile business helped drive higher revenue during the quarter. The company said today that mobile sales were up 43 percent year over … Read more

Just a few years ago, Pioneer was sitting atop the HDTV market with its line of Elite Kuro plasma televisions. But in 2009, Pioneer announced it would leave the television business to focus efforts elsewhere and abandoned the branding for TVs--until yesterday.

That's when Sharp announced that it has licensed the Pioneer Elite brand name for a line of high-end LCD televisions it plans to launch later this year in the U.S. and Canada. Pioneer, which has continued to use the Elite branding for other products, said the strategy will complement its Elite line of home-theater products, including … Read more

Samsung expects to post a profit from the fourth quarter, but its cash gains are on the downswing.

The company said Friday in Korea that it expects to show a 3 trillion won (about $2.67 billion) operating profit in its fourth-quarter financial report when it announces results in the coming weeks. That compares with a 3.4 trillion won operating profit in the same period the previous year and a 4.9 trillion won operating profit in the third quarter of 2010.

Samsung's estimated profit decline in the fourth quarter was due mainly to plunging TV prices, the … Read more

Samsung has hit an important milestone with the apps marketplace on its HDTVs.

According to the company, 1 million applications have been downloaded from its Samsung Apps since it launched in March. Samsung said that Hulu Plus, ESPN Next Level, CinemaNow, and Texas Holdem are among the "the most frequently downloaded applications" in its store. In addition, the company said that Samsung Apps now features 200 applications, including MLB.TV, Vudu, Netflix, and many others.

Currently, Samsung offers its marketplace on over half of its 2010 line of HDTVs. The company said that it expects TV vendors to … Read more

Sony might not be the only company offering Google TV in its televisions.

Samsung reportedly plans to run Google's software, which allows users to surf the Web and manage their DVR, among many other features, in a set of HDTVs that it expects to announce in January. The company's intentions were were reportedly revealed by Samsung TV business head Yoon Boo Keun to the Bloomberg news agency. He didn't provide any further details.

However, in an e-mail statement to CNET, Samsung pointed out that a final deal has yet to be struck with Google.

"For Samsung, … Read more

My dream TV should come with Wi-Fi, a Blu-ray player, and a powerful sound bar, and I doubt an armored glass panel will ever end up in my list of wants. Nevertheless, Corning is pitching its ultradurable "Gorilla Glass" for use as HDTV cover glass. This material was originally invented in 1962 and has been used in smartphones and handheld devices to protect against drop damage and scratches. Putting aside some of the rare cases of flying Nintendo Wiimotes smashing TV screens, I'm having a hard time recalling any other similar panel fatalities.

The company is expecting … Read more

The approaching summer needs to be a blockbuster one for Sony.

Once the star of the consumer electronics business, the company has had a lot of catching up to do lately. But it could make up some significant ground if two of its big initiatives for the summer, 3D TV and its new Google TV-based Sony Internet TV, grab the attention of consumers.

The company has struggled with its core business, the TV, the past few years. Once the most influential in the area, the company has lost market share to Samsung, and has been lapped on bringing some new … Read more