December 17, 2003

Cheap large televisions in 2004 says Intel

from the NY Times bq. The Intel Corporation is planning to do to digital television what it has already done to computing. bq. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which opens on Jan. 8, Intel is expected to disclose the development of a class of advanced semiconductors that technologists and analysts say will improve the quality of large-screen digital televisions and substantially lower their price, according to industry executives close to the company. bq. Intel's ability to integrate display, television receiver and computer electronics on a single piece of silicon is likely to open new markets for a class of products - including plasma, projection and L.C.D. TV's - that now sell for $3,000 to $10,000. bq. Intel, as well as other large chip manufacturers, should be able to expand the benefits of Moore's Law, named for Gordon Moore, a founder of Intel, which accurately predicted decades ago that computer chips would continue to double in capacity roughly every 18 months, while their price would continue to fall. bq. "I think this brings Moore's Law to digital television," said Richard Doherty, a consumer electronics industry analyst who is president of Envisioneering, a consulting firm based on Long Island. He predicted that the low-cost display technology, which can be incorporated into the traditional rear-projection television sets, could lead to lightweight 50-inch screens only 7 inches thick for about $1,000, perhaps as early as the 2004 holiday season. Although, if this gets traction, it will cause the sales of the present systems to tank and thereby upsetting the market... I would put the sub-$1K 50" TV at 2005 instead of 2004 - there are factories to build and working in an experimental lab is a lot different than working on a factory floor - some processes do not scale well... Still, cool tachnology and something to keep an eye on... Posted by DaveH at December 17, 2003 1:39 PM