Asbis Opens UK Office
Asbis has opened a London base to focus on the Prestigio brand and will be shipping Prestigio products, including tablets, smartphones and large touch screen PCs, from its European warehouse in Prague.
John Lewis’ EHT Sales Dip 3.2%
John Lewis reported “a solid performance” in the last week of October, though sales in the electrical and home technology sector were down 3.2% from the previous week, which the company attributed to the launch of the new iPad a week earlier.
LG Chooses Informática
Informática Megasur, in Spain, in now distributing LG’s smartphones and tablets.
Media-Saturn Creates Electronics Online Group
Media-Saturn is to create a portfolio of online pure-play companies and concepts under the name Electronics Online Group (EOG), with its existing online business Redcoon as the core. EOG will be led by Martin Smith, founder of Idealo, Germany’s leading comparison portal, who has been named as CEO. The company said that, in addition to … Read more
ZTE Sees Brightstar
Brightstar 20:20 has been chosen by ZTE as the official distributor for its smartphones and tablets in Spain.
32″ – 42″ Panel Prices Will Rise in Q4
Pricing for 32″, 40″ and 42″ TV panels will continue to rise in Q4’14, say Asian sources. The situation is not expected to soften until Q1’15, when demand seasonally falls. Panel makers have lowered production of 32″ units to focus on larger, higher-end products such as 50″ and 60″ UltraHD panels.
Best Buy Licenses Sharp Brand
Best Buy and Sharp have signed a licensing agreement (Display Monitor Vol 21 No 43) which allows the US chain to use Sharp’s brand on three recently released HDTVs. The new line comprises 32″, 42″ and 50″ models, selling for $200, $330 and $430 respectively.
DVB-T2 Plans Outlined in Germany
At a Media Broadcast event in Germany regarding DVB-T2, it was said that private broadcasters in the country plan to launch services using the platform in mid-2016. DVB-T broadcasts could be turned off in early 2018. Public broadcasters plan to begin -T2 programming in early 2017 and turn off simulcasts in mid-2019. Media Broadcast and … Read more
EC Looks to Limit Display Power Draw
The European Commission has published a working paper proposing new energy standards for large-screen TVs and monitors, which would cap their energy use. TVs in Europe are currently ranked according to the internal efficiency of their components. Under the proposed new scheme, fewer TVs would attain the top ratings. The standards could be in force … Read more
Entropic Leaves STB SoC Development
Entropic has announced that it will no longer produce SoC devices for use in set-top boxes. The company will continue to supply its STB SoCs that are already in production and believes that the business will contribute ‘meaningful revenue’ for the next three years. However, Entropic’s new focus is on its core connectivity business.
Fire TV Arrives In Time For Christmas
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick (Display Monitor Vol 21 No 43) has been launched in the USA. It costs $40.
Frankfurt Claims Largest Airport Screen
A 100m² (5.5m x 18.3m) LED screen has been installed at Frankfurt Airport in Germany – making it the largest digital airport advertising space in Europe. We heard (via our friends at Invidis) that the screen is 16m from the ground and weighs 18 tonnes – but operator Media Frankfurt didn’t give away any more … Read more
