Consumer Tech for July – Are TV Manufacturers Still Relevant?

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By Richard M. Sherwin

Are TV Manufacturers Still Relevant?

IPads, Android Tablets, Smart Phones rule the world…of TV?

Los Angeles, California: During the Stanley Cup playoffs and the NBA Playoffs, several divisional championship games were viewed by more people on Smart phones, Tablets and computer than on conventional TV.

A recent hit music video had nearly ten times the viewers on YouTube than its much hyped first ever appearance on regular TV or MTV.

And like it or not, streaming video from Netflix, Amazon, VuDu or YouTube, has slowly but surely knocked down the ratings that the broadcasters lived on.

And, just a few days ago, several Wall Street analysts said that TV manufacturers are no longer even in the top ten of innovative firms that financiers and smart investors are tracking.

TVs are not the center of family entertainment any more.

Leading industry wags claim that content providers and next gen product companies (Tablets, Smart Phones, whole house automation manufacturers and service providers) are much more important than TV makers….even though some TV manufacturers have divisions that make the abovementioned devices. But TVs as we knew them are becoming just window dressing for other devices.

The late technology analyst David Perkel of Select Technologies predicted this back in 1990 when he claimed (after the first combination PC-TV was launched) that “the dumb tube is finally getting smart and smart things usually win out in the end.” Perkel also predicted that PCs or related computer devices would have to become as easy as TVs, which still hasn’t occurred.

“TV makers are looking to make a comeback, not on the sales of TVs, but on the ancillary benefits of including Internet access on the newest models. Sharing in online shopping profits, browsing searches, travel arrangements and even telephone-TV services from your living room chair, could really bring back some cash to the manufacturers of TVs,” says Henry Palacci, a prominent Chicago-based financial and tech consultant to DFA.

Palacci also suggests that the TV makers could start selling more TVs because once your neighbor shops for his or her car on a giant display or saves money on last minute vacation plan, you might still want a big TV in the living room,” Palacci added.

“Remember, for many people, Internet enabled TVs could be an appealing alternative to computers. Some people still don’t trust PCs or Macs, what with their inconsistent trustworthiness. TVs don’t crash, computers do.”

In the transition to internet enabled TVs, Len Wanger, a senior VP of technology at William Harris @ Co., points out that content providers and broadcasters could be the biggest beneficiaries of the move to streaming video. “The quality of the streaming can now be adjusted so that even entry level flat screens offer exceptionally vivid viewing of videos from any source,” says Wanger.

Maybe this dynamic shift in viewing habits and viewing devices could make Perkel’s prediction come true. The TV makers could get smarter and the PC makers easier as the two are forced to join forces.

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