The gold rush is here, competitors fighting amongst each other to get some of that leprechaun's gold...except this time it's for bringing 3D TV into homes!Panasonic released the first 3D home theater system in Japan and signed to distribute the system through the US Best Buy. Retail price for the system is set at $3000 and the TV itself is at $2500.
Sony is planning to release its 3D TVs early June, with a higher price point. Each pair of glasses will be $130 alone. Their 60 inch screen will be sold for over $3000.
LG, Phillips and Toshiba have vague release dates for their own 3D systems, following close behind.
Movies like Avatar spurned the 3D craze and now companies are trying to implement the same technology into households. Since the TVs are out of the average consumer's budget, they are lowering costs by manufacturing the systems in existing facilities to minimize costs.
These 3D systems are aiming to gain hype in time for viewers to watch the upcoming World Cup in 3D! That is utterly fascinating, the thought of watching soccer in 3D. Imagine the technology that is required to shoot and project live games into three dimension.
Emerging technology like this makes it important for companies to keep up with the current inventions. Companies must keep up with daily, hourly trends in order to survive in their respective industries. According to Emerging Technology Trends on ZD.net, "...we realize the advantage of living on the cusp of technology. As a business driver, technology advances have certainly increased efficiency and indeed made 'buy-in' to technology a must for anyone wishing to compete, regardless of industry"
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It seems this technology would require much time and a lot of money. You touched upon companies' desire to minimize costs which leads me to believe that production costs must be pretty high for such technology. Concerns must be rising about the health of this product in an economy like ours suffering such a great recession. Many questions arise: Will the TV prove to successfully open a new market of 3D home entertainment? Will mark-up prices be great enough to produce revenues and maintain production? Will consumers have a "must-have" attitude to such a high-priced luxury?
ReplyDeleteThe 3-Dimensional TV seems to be a very innovative and interesting product and I am excited to see how it does in the market!
Kristi! I did remember hearing about this. Isn't like the World Cup going to be shown in 3-D? Either way I think it is an interesting technology. I am not sure if I would invest in that techonolgy because personally I do not need it but if other people want to then why not?! I do think the price is a little high for 3-D technology. People act as if it is brand new when 3-D technology has been around for a while. Sure not to this extent but still. Well kudos to those brave enough to try it. I will come over and watch their 3-D television with them. :)
ReplyDeleteWow it seems like just yesterday I was a little kid at Disney wondering how "Hunny I Shrunk the Kids" was popping out of the screen in front of me. It would appear that 3-D has finally reached its potential in terms of popularity since the success of Avatar. Bringing this into the home is a great idea. History has shown us that technology that is normally only available in public or business settings can be made accessible in homes in time. (Ex: personal computers, video games, home theaters, etc.) If I wasn't a poor college student I would definitely be interested in purchasing one and watching sports in 3-D.
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