Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1959)

VOL. 15: No. 32 15 AUGUST 10, 1959 MORE TUBE SIZES 6i SHAPES COMING? Don't believe for a minute that you've heard the last word on new picture-tube sizes, shapes & configurations. Take the 19-in. square for example. This is g brand new one — the bulbs haven't even been sampled yet. It's a "replacement" for the 18-in. square, which even now is available only in sample quantities. Tube & set makers are now being sounded out for their opinions on the 19-in. — which falls between 17 & 21 -in. models and is offered as step-up from 17in. in same fashion as 23-in. step-up from 21-in. Unlike proposed 18-in. tube, the 19-in. — as presently envisioned— wouldn't have safety glass bonded on front. Feelers on 19-in. tube are being put out by bulb-maker Kimble Glass Co. New size would have square corners like 23-in. & the proposed 18-in., and its area would be 174 sq. in., as opposed to 155 sq. in. for present 90-degree 17-in. tube and 157.6 for 18-in. square-corner bonded-shield tube. It would be half-inch longer than 18in., 2 lb. heavier than 17-in., use conventional external safety glass. Diagonal measurement is 18.625 in. There's been no decision whether to use tube — manufacturers are waiting for bulb samples. But, being relatively lightweight, it could be adaptable to super-portable sets or transportable table models. But that's not all — there will be more sizes & shapes and variations coming up, many in incubation stage now. That 23-in. tube we mentioned last week without the built-in safety glass (Vol. 15:31) looks as if it's definitely in the cords now. Kimble told us last week: "At the urgent request of some of our customers, we are undertaking the development of a 23-in. shape which would not require a laminated implosion plate. If we're successful in our development efforts, this bulb should be available in moderate production quantities by early 1960." Also being explored is 23-in. with Pittsburgh Plate Glass's different version of the built-in safety plate (Vol. 14:30). With or without built-in implosion plate, 23-in. is still unknown quantity, consumer-wise. Tube makers we've talked with say demand is still fairly low because of small number of manufacturers using it. Since new shape is just beginning to appear at retail level, no conclusions will be possible for a month or 2. HOTCAKES HAVE NOTHING ON 1960 TVs; If there's any doubt that the TV sales pickup is for real, take a look at what the manufacturers are saying about acceptance of their new lines by dealers & the public. In some cases, traditional July vacation shutdowns have been curtailed or eliminated to help fill depleted pipelines. And on top of June's 120% increase in sales to dealers (Vol. 15:29) early estimates show nearly 30% increase over 1958 in July. Read the set makers' financial reports on p. 18 and you'll see first-half recovery from bad 1958 delineated in terms of dollars. What's happened since new lines were shown in June? Here are manufacturers' own statments: RCA consumer products exec, v.p. P. J. Casella — "Unprecedented dealer & distributor acceptance of new RCA Victor TV receivers has given RCA its greatest July TV sales volume in history. Despite the fact that we have been operating extra shifts at all our home instrument plants for the past 8 weeks, we are still so far back-ordered in our new TV, radio & stereo models that we must cut the usual 2-week plant vacation period in half to meet the demand. "We have stepped up production considerably over original plans. July's TV shipments were more than 65% ahead of last year and transistor radios more than 60% ahead. . . . Even though our national advertising campaign hasn't started yet, consumers are already placing orders for new sets, sometimes without even seeing them." As to portable TVs & transistor radios introduced last spring, "factory inventories ore non-existent and we are shipping this merchandise as fast as it comes off the production line." Zenith pres. Joseph S. Wright — "We've experienced absolutely no let-up in demand" for TV, radio and stereo. Company has kept "a large number" of its 8500 employes on the job through the regular 2-week July shutdown, turning out 1500 TV sets a week. Motorola pres. Robert Galvin — "We're pushing capacity in our plants in Chicago and going into double shifts at 2 other plants." Consumer products exec. v.p. Edward R. Taylor tells us orders from distributors are "almost overwhelming," following his division's biggest June in its history.