Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1963)

10— TELEVISION DIGEST JULY 8, 1963 TUNNEL DIODE FOR UHF: First use of tunnel diode in a consumer product will be announced by Sony at Music Show in Chicago July 21-25 when it opens sale of uhf adaptor for its 5i/2-in. transistorized Micro TV. Tiny adaptor, which plugs into side of set, has vertical slide-rule dial, uses 3 transistors & tunnel diode. It will be sold, complete with tunable uhf antenna & carrying case, for $49.95. Tunnel diode was invented hy Japanese scientist Leo Esaki when he was working for Sony. It created flurry of hopeful excitement as superior substitute for transistor in TV & FM sets in 1959, when GE was working hard on tunnel-diode approach (Vol. 15:30 pl6 et seq.). But no tunnel-diode consumer devices were actually put on market, to our knowledge — until Sony’s uhf adaptor. Sony’s next use of tunnel diode may be in FM sets, where a single one could conceivably perform functions of RF amplifler, local oscillator, mixer & first IF amplifier simultaneously. Sony’s perfection of the tunnel diode uhf tuner was revealed to us by Akio Morita, pres, of Sony Corp. of America and exec, vp of the Japanese parent company, in interview during which he gave us some glimpses of Sony’s future in U.S. The 5%-in. transistorized Micro TV has been highly successful in U.S. at present price of $189.96 (excluding battery), he said. Are further price reductions in the works? Sales at current price are high, said Morita. “Ultimately there’s no reason why the price couldn’t go down,” he added, pointing out that Japanese TV industry already is feeling beneficial effects of removal of 25% sales tax on domestic TV sales. Morita felt GE’s & Admiral’s 11-in. tinyvision at $99.95 would have little effect on Sony’s sales, since transistor TV is different category. More than 50% of Sony’s sets are sold with battery, he said. Will Sony add other TV models to its line? Morita speculated that with expansion of number of Sony dealers, “we will eventually have to expand our line. But we will always specialize in transistor TV. If we go into large-size sets, we’re just another manufacturer.” Sony plant in Japan currently is producing Micro T\' at rate of 1,000 a day, he said, of which about 75% are exported. After the U.S., Sony’s biggest foreign markets for TV are Germany & Italy. Asked about Paramount’s Chromatron color tube, to which Sony owns foreign rights, Morita said, with a smile : “All those rumors you hear are not true. It still needs plenty of time. The tube has never been produced in a factory; we must develop it from scratch. We haven’t decided yet whether our color set should use transistors or tubes, or what size it will be.” Sony will begin U.S. deliveries of its portable videotape recorder ($10,900) this month. As with its other products, Sony will try to create new markets for this tape recorder, rather than concentrate on proven ones. Among those suggested as possibilities by Morita: Racetracks, railroads. X-ray recording use in hospitals. Sony will not devote much effort to selling the recorder to broadcasters. “In the broadcast field, they want too many modifications. We’d have to raise the price. Our policy is always to do what we did when we introduced the transistor radio — to create our own market.” Mathes color at $399.95: Curtis Mathes entered color TV market with huge line of 29 sets, starting with wood veneer table model at $399.95, with 9 consoles $429.95-$629.95 and 19 combos $559.95-$l,250. Most color console & combination cabinets are also available with 23-in. b&w chassis. Mathes guarantees these sets to be “color convertible” — that is, any time between one & 4 years from date of purchase, Mathes will exchange b&w chassis for color at total cost of “no more than if the unit had been purchased as a color receiver in the beginning.” The 23-in. color-convertible sets are priced $220-$300 less than their color-now counterparts. Mathes also announced it will have 2 separate lines — low-price & higher-price — with separate dealer franchises for each. Only dealers who handle no other brands will be franchised for both low & high-priced lines, although other dealers can handle one or the other. Mathes b&w line, as shown last week in Dallas, has three 23-in. consoles at $179.95-$209.95 and 4 combos at $199.95-$329.95. Portable TVs will be introduced in 3-4 months. Company also introduced 6 stereo consoles with AM-FM at $159.95-$279.95. On heels of Pilot’s disclosure last week that it may enter color-TV combo field this year, another phono console maker said it will add color stereo theaters next year. It is Crestmark Div. of Vanity Fair Electronics Corp., Syosset, \.Y. Vanity Fair introduces its first Crestmark console line at Music Show in Chicago later this month. Sales vp is Seymour Mintz. Declining prices of picture tubes are shown in EIA’s tally of factory sales for April. Although unit sales increased to 771,073 from 758,539 in April 1962, dollar volume for the month shrunk to $14,197,385 from $14,253,425 year earlier. Receiving tube sales again declined from year-ago levels, to 26,167,000 units at $21,521,000 from 31,016,000 at $25,838,000 in April 1962. EIA’s tube sales figures : Picture Tabes Receiving Tabes Units Dollars Units Dollars January 890.246 $16,846,046 27,025,000 $22,524,000 February 636,392 11,990,596 26,382,000 22.354.000 March 760.524 14,223,503 30,285,000 25,643,000 April 771.073 14,197.385 26,167,000 21.521.000 Jan.-Apr. 1963 3.058.23S $57,257,530 110.193,000 $92.344,000 Jan. -Apr. 1962 3.112.100 $59,403,191 123,513,000 $104,253,000 Ghost of TV's distant past — The Kaye-Halbert brand, once a large-selling set in Southern Cal. — has been acquired by White Front Stores, Los Angeles-based discount chain, for use on private-label TV, radios & phonos. KayeHalbert Corp. was active in TV production in early 1950’s, was dissolved in bankruptcy proceedings late in 1955 (Vol. 11:49 pl4). Round-comer picture tubes don’t die (continued) : Two additions to our list of manufacturers using older sizes of rectangular pictures tubes (Vol. 3:26 p9) have come to our attention. GE still has 21-in. table model in its line, at $209.95. Muntz is offering both 24 & 27-in. sets. Electronic Specialty, Los Angeles maker of microwave components & antenna systems, other electronic equipment, has been listed for trading on N.Y. Stock Exchange. Symbol: ELS.