Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

NEW SERIES VOL. 3. No. 4 TELEVISION DIGEST— 11 Warning of increased electronics competition from Japan come recently from EIA marketing services dir. William F. E. Long in talk before Philadelphia IEEE. Said Long : "It is obvious that the Japanese intend no status-quo in their assault on world markets. The policy of the Administration to secure Japan os on ally in oiu: struggle for world balance of power will undoubtedly continue to aid in this assault." He pointed out that margin of U.S. electronics industry's favorable balance "declined significantly during 1962 and our manufacturers face on increased flow of Japanese goods during 1963." Eventual easing of price competition was foreseen by Long, however, as Japan's rapid economic growth brings about labor shortages and inflationary pressures. Note: Air carriers ore making increasing pitch for TV-radio-appliance import business in competition with shipping lines. Pan American has token ad space in Home Fuinishings Daily to onnoimce that its cargo rates on such items will be reduced April 1. Examples: Tokyo to N.Y., 88^ a pound for 440-lb. minimum (formerly $1.43, 550-lb. minimvun); Tokyo to West Coast, 75V2 a pound (formerly $1.30). TV-RADIO PRODUCTION: EIA statistics for week ended Jan. 18 (3rd week of 1963) : Jan. 12-18 Preceding wk. 1962 wk. '63 cumulative '62 cumulative TV 144,770 137,773 129,986 348,689 343,482 Total radio 325,217 330,726 343,290 877,112 987,582 auto radio 148,573 156,119 132,087 411,706 395,224 New plants & expansions: Magna vox is building at Greeneville, Tenn. a $5 million, 400,000-sq.-ft. production plant for color and b&w TV & stereo-TV combos. Plant is slated for completion in June • ITT will begin construction in late spring of $3.5 million, 115,000-sq.-ft. electronics manufacturing plant at Easton, Pa., scheduled to start operations before year’s end • Texas Instruments is building $4 million, 290,000-sq.-ft. multi-purpose production plant on its 350-acre North Central Expressway site, Dallas. Partial occupancy is slated for this fall. Plant will serve largely to consolidate Apparatus Div.’s design & production activities now carried on in various locations • TelePrompTer in Feb. will relocate its Conley Electronics Div., Weathers Div. & corporate manufacturing, engineering & technical operations at enlarged Cherry Hill, N.J. facility (Vol. 2:51 pll) • Sylvania is building 4,000-sq.-ft. addition to its Wire Plant facilities in Warren, Pa. Construction, slated for completion this spring, will increase area to 75,235 sq. ft. “The art of commercial definitions for high fidelity is improving rather slowly,” is wry comment in Feb. Radio-Electronics (Gernsback Publications) about hi-fi definition EIA recently forwarded to FTC (Vol. 3:2 p9). Radio-Electronics quotes from Gemsback’s old Radio-Craft magazine (Sept. 1934) a 28-year-old tentative definition of hi-fi by Engineering Div. of Radio Manufacturers Assn. (EIA’s predecessor) as applying to receivers having audio range of at least 50-7,500 cycles with variations not exceeding 10 db, total output of at least 10 watts, total distortion not exceeding 5%. New 1964 definition provides for minimum MPO output of 5 watts, response from 100 to 8,000 cycles, with minimum acoustical output ranging from 74 db (8,000 cycles) to 80 db (1,000 cycles). Thermoelectric portable refrigerator, which holds eight 12-ounce cans or equivalent volume, will be marketed this year by Whirlpool. Unit weighs 30 pounds, operates from 110-volt power source, is expected to retail for $110-150. Philco will spend some $40 million in next 4 years to modernize & improve facilities & equipment. Consumer Products Div. will spend another $8.2 million over same period for tooling costs. “After a year of intensive study of the operations of Philco & its potential in each of the areas in which it operates,” said Pres. Charles E. Beck, “we have developed what we believe to be realistic objectives of increased penetration in each of our markets. To reach the goals we have set for ourselves will require extensive investments.” Among investments: Consumer Products Div. will spend $6.6 million to modernize & rearrange plants, purchase equipment for manufacture of new products; Lansdale Div., $7 million, to be spent primarily for equipment to produce new silicon semiconductor products. Microelectronic circuits may be applied to TV, radios & phonos before their widespi’ead use in industrial applications. This was prediction of lab mgr. George H. Siegel at opening of new GE $500,000 microelectronics lab in Utica. He said micro-circuits promise tenfold increase in reliability and 25-50% cost savings. Cost reductions, he said, will be most striking in consumer area. He forecast that microelectronics would be $500-million-a-year business in 5 years, with impact on industry similar to introduction of the transistor. That 16-in. Symphonic set advertised in Spiegel’s catalog at $79.95 (Vol. 3:2 pll) was priced at profitable figure, Chmn. Modie J. Spiegel is quoted in Jan. 24 Wall Street Journal. He predicted imported sets would normally be sold at $79.95 in future, “and the domestic producer will find a way to meet it.” All GE TV-stereo combos are now being sold equipped for company’s “Home Music Distribution System.” Tiny FM transmitter in combination permits use of extension speakers anywhere in house merely by plugging into power line.