Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1953)

12 Topics & Trends oi TV Trsds: Here’s one manufacturer who says he’s “a little more optimistic than my brethren in the trade on the outlook for 1954” and comes up with some unusual reasons why he thinks it should be “a fairly successful year”. Robert S. Bell, exec. v.p. of Packard-Bell, Los Angeles, guesstimates 1954 retail sales will be 5-5,000,000, gives as reasons for his optimism: (1) “Pent-up desire in purchasing power” by consumers, which will bear fruit next spring. (2) Ability of set makers to adjust their production to consumer demand more quickly than in past. He says : “There has been a deferment of purchasing by a rather good-sized segment of the public, apparently, from all statistics we have, and that means there will be some pent-up desire in purchasing power for TV sets this spring when business is psychologically lower. It is the eternal history of the purchasing public that while they can defer their purchases for a short time, the money soon burns a hole in their pockets and they are back in the market places. Noxmially, the maximum period they can stay away is about 6 months. “Industry statistics have become more and more complete and reliable during the past several years and most of the manufacturers are now willing to rely upon them. As a result, production has been trimmed very quickly compared to past history when there were times of slower sales. While overall industi'y inventory is large, it is not an impossible burden in most cases so long as the pressure from the manufacturing end is reduced by the manufacturers trimming their production plans.” He says prices should be about the same as 1953, but concedes that cost of CR tubes might go down a bit more, and concludes: “Most of our other components and labor certainly are not going down, and even the strongest of our competitors can’t sell at a loss forever.” * $ H: $ Says H. L. Hoffman, Hoffman Radio: “I believe 1954 will not be nearly as bad a year as some seem to feel at this time. In my opinion, the industry should produce about 5,200,000 sets in 1954 and sell at retail approximately 6,000,000 . . . 1954 will be a year of challenge [demanding] more down-to-earth marketing, more value selling compared to mere price selling, fewer gimmicks, more education on the value of the show on TV, the facts on color and high fidelity. The outlook for our national economy for 1954 is good, with high employment, high consumer income and high spending by business, the people and govt. We have never had a bad year in the radio and TV business in an election year.” GE’s Dr. W. R. G. Baker foresees strong demand for black-&-white equipment maintained as 200 new TV stations go on air in 1954, bringing total to 550. He also forecasts limited commercial color telecasting opening new markets for broadcast equipment and receivers; industryto-distributor sales of 5,200,000 black-&-white, 100,000 color sets; production of about 7,600,000 home and portable radios; further improvement in black-&-white picture tubes, intensified research in color tubes, continued growth in total tube sales; high level of military electronics output. Motorola v.p. Edward I?. Taylor thinks only 1,000.000 TV sets will be produced first 1954 quarter, about half output of same 1952 quarter, and figures that only about 20% will list over $300. He calculates year-end inventories at 2,100,000, as against 1,200,000 year ago, but high Xmas trade and good going rate of sales does not make the higher figure dangerous. He agi'ees with exec. v.p. Robert Galvin that year’s output will be about 5,000.000 TV sets (our proofreaders erred last week in quoting young Galvin as saying 3,000,000). He also sees 1954 sales of 6,775,000 radios, exclusive of auto radios. Trfldfi Personals: Don G. Mitchell, Sylvania chairman, appointed by ex-President Hoover to “task force” of Commission on Organization of Executive Branch, dealing with govt, personnel . . . David J. Hopkins, Emerson Radio sales director and son of late Presidential adviser Harry Hopkins, Jan. 4 joins CBS-Columbia as sales director, reporting to v.p. Harry Schecter and assuming duties of sales mgr. R. D. Payne, resigned; Leo Hahn promoted to national radio sales mgr., Emerson ... A. Melvin Skellett, exresearch v.p., named to new post of v.p. for manufacturing & engineering, National Union Radio Corp.; Lawrence L. Hardin promoted to director of research div. . . . Harvey Williams, ex-v.p. of H. J. Heinz Co., named Avco v.p. in charge of overseas operations, handling relations with Crosley and Bendix licensees and distributors abroad . . . Paul T. Wickman, ex-Boston district sales mgr. for replacement tubes, named by GE to new post of merchandising mgr. for dealer products, in charge of distributordealer liaison on electronic tubes, high-fidelity systems, test equipment & germanium products . . . Albert C. Allen resigns as DuMont central regional mgr. to head Allen Distributing Inc., Providence (appliances) . . . Otis W. Murray named west coast operations v.p., James S. Burket west coast sales mgr., Pathe Laboratories . . . Dr. George E. Duvall, ex-GE & MIT, and Dr. Charlotte Zihlman LeMay, ex-Texas Instrument Co. (transistors), join Stanford Research Institute physics engineering staff . . . Edward Edison, ex-KLAC-TV & NBC Hollywood, named RCA Victor broadcast field sales rep, Los Angeles . . . Louis DeLaFleur leaves FCC frequency allocation & treaty div. after 13 years with Commission to become mgr. of RETMA international dept., Washington . . . D. W. Gunn promoted to gen. sales mgr., Sylvania electronic products, succeeding Harold P. Gilpin, retired. Distributor Notes: McCormack & Co., San Francisco, which relinquished Hoffman line last week, moves headquarters to Western Merchandise Mart, plans to take on new line shortly . . . Emerson Radio of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, appoints Charles F. Boice as gen. sales mgr.; he’s succeeded as Tele King Philadelphia branch mgr. by Joseph Supplee . . . Gough Industries Inc., Los Angeles (Sylvania) opens new offices at 560 So. Mission Road, L. A. . . . Pilot Radio appoints Adolph L. Gross Assoc. Inc., 23 Park Place, N. Y. . . . Bendix Radio appoints Lynn Dickerson Co., ex-Raytheon Houston outlet . . . Samson Distributors, Washington (Motorola) appoints C. D. Kendall gen. sales mgr. . . . Simon Distributing Co., Washington (Zenith) appoints M. A. Becker exec. v.p. James D. Shouse, Avco v.p. in charge of applianceelectronics operations, sees period of change ahead like that which automobile industry went through. Trend in distribution and marketing is toward full-line companies, he says. Year should see beginning of consolidations, mergers and outi'ight sales as more companies strive to expand into full lines — with strong brand names maintained and others dying out. Service survey by GE among 40,000 service dealers reveals these details: Average bill for TV service is $8.75$11.50, with parts and labor charges about evenly divided; two-thirds of service work is done in set owner’s home; average of 35-40 calls is handled per week per technician. Every group of service dealers predicted business volume, in 1953 would exceed last year. Regal Electronics Corp., 605 W. 130th St., N. Y., has filed petition under Chapter XI of the bankruptcy Act in Federal court, proposing settlement at 75% — 10% on confirmation and balance of 7%% every 90 days. Maker of TV and radio sets, it also has several govt, cost-plus contracts, lists assets of $1,185,500, liabilities of $864,000.