Who needs a 92-inch TV? Mitsubishi, the guys who make it

The mammoth 92-inch TV Mitsubishi will start selling next month.

(Credit:
Mitsubishi)
Does a 92-inch TV sound like overkill to you?
To many, it may. But for the company that makes it, Mitsubishi, it’s pretty much the only way to distinguish itself among its competitors and try to stay in the TV business.
Next month, Mitsubishi will officially start selling the behemoth of a television it first introduced at CES in January. The 92-inch 840 3D DLP Home Cinema TV will cost $5,999, has a resolution of 1080p, uses DLP rear-projection technology, and can display 3D content. It also comes in 72 inches and 83 inches.
Yes, there will be people that will buy it. The kind of people who, say, have a “media room” in their home. In other words, no, it’s not for everyone. So why would Mitsubishi go after such a small portion of TV buyers?
“It’s good to sell volume, but it’s better to make money,” said Frank DeMartin, vice president of consumer product sales for Mitsubishi.
The big-time players in the TV market, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony sell millions of flat-panel TVs every quarter, and Mitsubishi, a small player with about 1 percent of the television market in North America, can’t compete on the number of TVs those guys make. So starting last year, Mitsubishi moved to where none of its competition is in order to stay afloat in the very tough world of making TVs. That means going really, really big and selling technologies you don’t see much from any other player in the industry.
The Japanese TV maker says it’s tried and it can’t make decent profit margins–and claims the competition can’t either–on your “normal size TVs.” That is, TVs that measure 30, 40, 50, and 60 inches. Prices have dropped significantly in those sizes, which means the makers get squeezed on profits. It’s why Mitsubishi nixed its 60- and 65-inch model TVs last year. Now it doesn’t make anything smaller than 72 inches.
A risky move for sure: TVs larger than 65 inches are really just not that popular. They make up about 2 percent of the total number of TVs sold in North America, according to TV market researchers at DisplaySearch. Liquid-crystal display (LCD) TVs, the most popular TV technology, are not even available in sizes larger than 70 inches. You can get a 85-inch plasma from Panasonic, but that’s a whole different category of buyer: one that will spend $22,000 on a TV. There’s also a Panasonic 103-inch plasma for more than $30,000.
Larger size TV are more expensive and usually mean a smaller number of sets sold, but they do “tend to be a little more profitable” than the approximate 10 percent profit margins that the makers of standard-size LCD TVs get, said Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch’s vice president of TV research for North America.
That low-margin issue is also why Mitsubishi abandoned its LCD TV business last year.
“We were selling lots of flat panels too, but not making any money,” DeMartin said.
Which brings us back to the 92-incher. Besides size, there’s another reason it’s different than the dozens of TVs you’d see lining the aisles of Best Buy: it uses rear-projection technology. Mitsubishi is now the only company that still carries the banner for the TV technology that has been largely forgotten by mainstream TV buyers since the onset of the LCD and plasma era.
Why would anyone still buy a rear-projection TV, you ask? At about 15-inches deep they’re not nearly as thin as an LCD or plasma and there’s nothing really cutting-edge about the idea of rear-projection, Gagnon said. The remaining appeal of rear-projection for most is price. And if you do happen to be outfitting your media room, rear-projection is actually thinner than front-projection TVs, which are–besides Panasonic’s five-figure sets–the only other option for when it comes to buying a TV as big as 92 inches.
“We’re in an area that flat panel doesn’t play in. An LED [-based LCD TV] from Sharp is [more than] $3,000, it’s not 3D we have quite a bit of room to work,” DeMartin insists.
So a 92-inch rear-projection TV may not be for everyone. But Mitsubishi is just fine with that.   www.bgocled.com

NEUTEX Advanced Energy Group, Inc.™ Establishes Energy Provider Group

HOUSTON, June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Houston based NEUTEX Advanced Energy Group, Inc.™ (“NEUTEX” or the “Company”), parent company of NEUTEX Lighting™, producers of innovative, energy-efficient LED, Induction and wind/solar hybrid lighting applications, today announced that it has significantly strengthened its offerings to their energy cost and environmentally minded customers by establishing their own electric energy provider group; NEUTEX First™.
NEUTEX™ President and CEO John Higgins established this newest offering in the company’s continued efforts to offer the best, most energy conscious products and services. By combining NEUTEX Lighting’s™ advanced-technology, energy efficient LED lighting products with NEUTEX First’s™ offering of electric power provider choices, the company is poised to offer to their customers, all-inclusive energy-saving packages; something no competitor can.
Ever one to turn obstacles into opportunities, Mr. Higgins stated, “As we developed and recycled our 40,000 sq. foot company headquarters and LED manufacturing center in Houston, we recognized the difficulty in making an informed, affordable energy provider choice, especially on a commercial level, and as a result, we made the decision to leap into the energy market ourselves. NEUTEX First™ is the result of that challenge.
“As we completed our own energy audits for our own lighting needs we quickly realized that an uninformed energy provider choice will gives no control over pricing, which foolishly drives up costs.
“We realize that other business owners are in the same situation and that many of these are the same business owners who want a no frills energy efficient LED or Induction lighting system solution for their business that operates at 80% less energy consumption than standard lighting options. Combine an energy efficient lighting solution with a lower per-kilowatt electricity rate and you create a win-win for a customer.”
NEUTEX™ feels that NEUTEX First™ and their power solutions will give savvy electricity shoppers a better solution that brings together great prices and dependable service. They plan to begin offering their services to all US unregulated markets on July 1st.
Starting on July 1, 2011, they will offer to all customers in United States de-regulated power markets electricity packages that provide some of the most competitive rates around. From month-to-month to extended fixed-rate plans, they will offer customers a wide array of packages that will allow the customer to pick the best option for their business. Customers will also have the comfort of knowing that the same poles and wires that they’ve always had will continue delivering electricity to the business.
For information on how NEUTEX Lighting™ and NEUTEX First™ can provide an energy efficient lighting electricity power package for your company, visit www.neutexworld.com.
About NEUTEX™ Lighting.
Founded in 2007, NEUTEX Lighting™ is the maker of the most advanced lighting products available. With domestic manufacturing scheduled to begin this year, their products use the most advanced lighting technologies; LED, Induction Wind / Solar Hybrids and feature unprecedented energy efficiency and quality.
About NEUTEX First™
The newest stop on The NEU Path to Illumination™, Texas based NEUTEX First™, is one of the nation’s fastest growing retail electric providers. By offering energy and illumination solutions with competitive prices, transparent billing, and superior customer service, NEUTEX First™ is committed to establishing and maintaining the highest standards in the retail electric industry.
For more information about NEUTEX Lighting™, NEUTEX First™ or any of the NEUTEX Advanced Energy Group™ of companies, visit   www.bgocled.com