Here at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the excitement seems to be reserved for large screen TVs that plug into the Internet and display movies in 3D.
Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung highlight both capabilities as it discussed the features of its new line of LCD and LED models. This year the company will launch the first ever apps store for downloading software widgets to its televisions and its phones. Imagine the possibilities! (What about an app from the NFL?)
Sharp also is enthusiastic about Internet connections. It will roll out models with movie streaming links to Netflix (and with an enhanced color technology it calls QuadPixel).
But as televisions get more exciting and more capable, price declines may not come as rapidly as in recent years. That’s because energy efficiency improvements, like those being required in California, could add development costs. The state wants TVs 58 inches and smaller to burn a third less power by 2011 and almost 50 percent less by 2013.
It is likely television prices will fall more slowly, says Michael Troetti, president of Sharp Electronics Manufacturing Company of America. California’s standards are “challenging to the industry at a standpoint when the economy is tough,” he said Wednesday at the CES show.
Also likely to keep prices firm is a push among makers to sell premium models – those loaded with the latest features: online connections, remote controls sporting LED displays, backlit LED screens that measure less than an inch thick. The strategy seems to be to load on features and hold the line on prices.
Energy efficiency will just be part of the plan. This certainly seems to be the case at Sharp, which on Wednesday unveiled several new lines of feature loaded “premium” models.
Each of them already meets California’s energy standards, says Troetti.
Posted by Mark Boslet 
