Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1955)

12 Veteran of the appliance field, which he first entered in Kansas City in 1924, going in 1927 with Bill Grunow's old General Household Utilities Corp. , Chicago, big refrigerator handler, then radios, the popular "Hank" Bonfig faces enormous obstacles in such TV-radio-appliance competition. CBS is a highly profitable concern, apparently bent on being another RCA, but despite its expected |400,000,000 volume this year (mainly from telecasting), it is still losing money in the set & tube manufacturing businesses — the tube business mainly because of investment in color. It's hell bent to win a share of a market it has been unable to dent in the 4 years since it bought out Air King. Bonfig' s job is to shore up distribution soft spots, set up new ones, ride the inevitable "tide of color" when it begins to flow, and take the receiver manufacturing phases of CBS's operations out of the red. * * * * Broader distribution is probable reason behind negotiations for merger of Whirlpool Corp. , St. Joseph, Mich, (washing machines) and Seeger Mfg. Co. . St. Paul (Coldspot refrigerators & freezers), both major entities in their fields, both partowned by and suppliers of Sears Roebuck. The news leaked this week that principals are discussing legality of merger with govt, officials. Either or both lines would be hot items for many TV-radio distributors, eager for top-brand "white goods". Both companies are strong ones. Whirlpool sales last year running $169,453,888, earnings $2.98 a share, Seeger's sales $112,564,615, earnings $5.32 a share. * * * ♦ TV production continued seasonal decline, totaling 110,651 week ended May 13, compared to 127,067 preceding week and 131,627 in week ended April 29. It was 19th week of year by RETMA calculations and brought production for year to date to about 2,935,000, compared to approximately 2,200,000 in same period of 1954. Radio production totaled 287,352 (145,757 auto) week ended May 13, compared to 286,284 week ended May 6 and 278,054 week before. For 19 weeks, production was estimated at 5,400,000 vs. 3,750,000 in corresponding 1954 period. COMPONENTS MAKERS, those under-publicized but usually reliable barometers of TV trade trends, generally foresee 1955 as another year of solid growth for their set manufacturer customers — equal to, perhaps exceeding, the nearly 7,500,000 TVs produced and sold in 1954 — on the basis of parts orders currently on their books. They’re a pretty optimistic bunch, by and large, and their optimism was reflected this week at the annual Electronic Parts Show at Chicago’s Conrad Hilton Hotel, which proved to be biggest ever (290 exhibitors, 10,000 registrants). Several important parts makers tell us they look for sizable increases in TV set production in last 6 months of year. All noted increases in orders last 3 months— a welcome indication that set makers at long last were reducing their huge inventories of components. Parts and set manufacturers make common cause on one complaint — profits are too low, even though unit sales remain high and are even expanding on some items. And they apparently don’t see much prospect of raising parts prices to get more profit. m * * * Veteran parts maker Leslie F. Muter, pres, of Muter Co. & RETMA treas., comments thus on current state of parts industry: “I think we’re all going along quite well, and don’t have too much room to complain. We’re getting volume, better than a year ago in most cases, which I think is basically due to high-fidelity and such allied fields. But the continued high level of TV business has also been a big factor — bigger, I think, than many of us would have predicted a year ago. “With those low price tags, our set-manufacturing friends are going to move a lot of receivers this year. Second sets are going into homes with some regularity now, and that’s bound to increase business for everybody, including us. The whole picture adds up in my mind to a 7,000,000-plus year for TV production and retail sales. Now if something can be done about low profits on parts . . .’’ Matt Little, pres, of Quam-Nichols Co., big speaker manufacturer, goes along with Muter — with this reservation: “I just hope the TV manufacturers don’t overproduce in the last 6 months to spoil what could be a very fine year for everyone. As long as they watch that inventory, and I have every reason to believe they will, all of us will have at least as good a year as 1954.’’ Harry A. Ehle, v.p. of International Resistance Co., sees the tremendous number of new electronic products being introduced almost daily as one of biggest reasons for his prediction of bullish future. He cautions all levels of trade to prepare for diversification of product to eliminate seasonal peaks and valleys in sales. * * 5{5 Interest at parts show itself was centered on highfidelity. Many jobbers reported sales of “hi-fi” components this year running 26-50% over 1954, which in itself was big year in this field. More manufacturers have entered field with higher-quality products, for, as Little said : “The public has been trained to demand better sound and is getting it from the manufacturers. High-fidelity is getting to mean precisely that, even though we have no fullyacceptable definition of the term ; the old days in which anything could be palmed off as high-fidelity are gone.” Lots of interest, too, in color — though concensus of jobbers was that a real lift from color couldn’t be expected until 1956, at the earliest. By the same token, some parts manufactureis expressed view that they could help speed lower color prices by continuing theii research on automation and other production short cuts with objectives of reducing cost of components even further.