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Digital TV
IC Space Gets Crowded
by David E. Mentley
As the bloom
starts to fade from the LCD monitor rose, flat-panel
television quickly has become the next high-growth target
for many fabless IC houses, leading to intense competition
and a plunge in prices for TV image processors. Beyond
flat-panel TV, many of the digitally-enhanced analog-input
TVs, which now also qualify as digital, are also attracting
the attention of IC makers.
The main
allure of flat-panel TV is fast growth compared to more
established markets. Just to put it all in perspective, LCD
monitor sales will grow to 68 million units in 2004, up
about 51 percent from 45 million units in 2003, iSuppli/Stanford
Resources predicts. In contrast, unit shipments of digital
TVs (DTVs) - both flat-panel and CRT-based - will grow to
around 15 million in 2004, up more than 100 percent from
about 7 million in 2003.
From the chip
makers' perspective, the LCD monitor market has become
highly commoditized, and price reductions have outstripped
unit growth. Thus, the interest has shifted to the TV
market, with its worldwide potential of 160 million units
per year.
At least 23
chip companies now are offering ICs for DTV. An undoubtedly
incomplete list of DTV IC suppliers includes: ATI, Averlogic,
Etron, Himax, iChips, Genesis Microchip, MRT, Macronix,
Micronas, Mstar, Novatek, Oplus, Philips, Pixelworks,
Realtek, SmartASIC, STMicroelectronics, Sunplus, Topro,
Trident, Trumpion, Weltrend, and Zoran. This is in addition
to the dozen or so large television makers like Sony Corp.,
Samsung Electronics, and Toshiba Corp. that also provide DTV
chips for internal consumption.
Unlike the
monitor space, where a single controller combined with a
timing controller and drivers constitutes the total
electronics Bill of Materials (BOM), DTVs still rely on
tuners, decoders, controllers, and sometimes image
processors to round out the BOM.
Tuners and
decoders are well on their way to becoming commoditized;
controllers are not quite at that point, and image
processors are the highest-priced and most customized
components on the DTV circuit board. At this early stage of
market development, when TV prices are still high and
customers remain discerning, an image processor can
differentiate an excellent-looking display from a mediocre
one.
Prices for
image processors were in the $40 to $50 range just two years
ago. Competition and volume have brought the high end of the
market down to the $20 to $25 level. That range is likely to
continue dropping, especially in the first half of 2004, as
the market heats up, iSuppli/Stanford Resources predicts.
The other components are likely to experience even more
price-cutting as second- and third-tier TV makers force
retail prices down rapidly this year.
Information: David E.
Mentley is senior vice president at iSuppli/Stanford
Resources. Email: dmentley@stanfordresources.com.
Intel to
Enter LCOS Fray
Las Vegas,
Nevada, January 8 - In an address delivered at the Consumer
Electronics Show today, Intel Corporation President and COO
Paul Otellini, said that Intel will begin producing LCOS
chips for rear-projection television in 2004.
The company's
Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) technology, designed to
dramatically improve the appearance of large-screen displays
at lower cost is code-named Cayley, and Intel expects it to
be available in large-screen displays as early as this year.
The displays are anticipated to decline in cost to achieve
price points of less than $2000 next year.
Intel expects
that in 2005 it will be possible for the cost of a
single-panel LCOS light engine to drop below the cost of
light engines based on other microdisplays. With its
excellent picture quality and high-volume consumer price
points, Intel's LCOS technology can help high-definition
RPTV manufacturers achieve significant sales volume
beginning in 2004-2005, an Intel statement said.
Information: www.intel.com/design/celect/technology/lcos/
Japanese
Company Polatechno to Acquire MOXTEK
Las Vegas,
Nevada, January 9 - At the Consumer Electronics Show being
held here, MOXTEK™, Inc. announced today that it has
agreed to be acquired by Polatechno Ltd. (PLC) in a
transaction that must be ratified by MOXTEK's shareholders.
The acquisition of MOXTEK will expand PLC's leadership
position in polarization components used in business
presentation and home entertainment projection systems, said
Glenn Stewart, MOXTEK's President and CEO.
PLC plans to
retain the MOXTEK name, personnel, and operating facilities
at their existing location in Orem, Utah. PLC will also
maintain and support MOXTEK's existing customer base in both
polarization components and analytical instrumentation
components. The combined company expects to expand MOXTEK's
market segment share in both markets. Prior to making this
acquisition, PLC was the exclusive distributor of MOXTEK's
ProFlux™ line of polarizers and polarizing beam splitters
in Asia. The ProFlux polarizers received the SID/Information
Display magazine 2002 Silver Display Material or Component
of the Year Award.
"We are
excited to have the nanotechnology expertise of MOXTEK
combined with the manufacturing expertise of PLC," said
Koichi Takase, President of PLC. "We feel there is
tremendous potential for expansion in both the existing
markets for HTPS-based display systems and the developing
LCOS-based display market."
Information: www.moxtek.co.
2004 Sales
of Consumer Electronics to Set New Record, Surpassing $100
Billion
Las Vegas,
Nevada, January 5 - Manufacturer-to-dealer sales of consumer
electronics products will total a record $101 billion in
2004 - a five percent increase over 2003 - according to
figures released today by the Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA). These figures were issued as part of CEA
Market Research's semi-annual U.S. Consumer Electronics
Sales & Forecasts report.
CEA also
announced that estimated year-end sales for 2003 total $96.3
billion, marking a modest increase of two percent over 2002
figures. The 2003 estimate for year-end sales exceeds the
previous forecast CEA released in July 2003.
In the video
category, total sales of digital television (DTV) products
account for some $6.1 billion of industry revenues in 2003
on nearly 4 million units, representing an increase in
dollar sales of 44 percent and an increase of 56 percent in
units over 2002 figures. New display technologies have
helped boost the tremendous growth in sales of DTV products,
with sales of plasma television estimated to reach nearly
$1.5 billion in revenues for 2003, up from $515 million just
one year ago. LCD television sales during 2003 will total
$651 million, compared to $246 million in 2002. In 2004, CEA
projects another banner year for DTV product sales, with
total shipments of more than 5.7 million units on dollar
sales of $8 billion. Sales of plasma displays are expected
to generate $2.2 billion in 2004 and revenues of LCD
displays are projected to increase to more than $1 billion.
Manufacturer-to-dealer
sales of direct-to-home satellite systems totaled 9.7
million units on dollar revenues of nearly $1.4 billion in
2003 and sales of personal video recorders (PVRs)
skyrocketed with increases of more than 239 percent over
2002 to $193 million in revenues.
Two
categories once thought to have reached a plateau - PCs and
wireless phones - saw growth in 2003. PC sales finally have
returned to positive territory in 2003 as unit sales rose
roughly 15 percent and dollar sales total $12.5 billion,
with digital media and increasing PC specs helping drive a
new upgrade cycle. Also in 2003, sales of wireless
telephones increased by 20 percent to 70.5 million units on
dollar sales of almost $9.2 billion.
Information: www.CE.org/market_research.
