Seagate ST3500312CS Embedded Hard Drives in Televisions - Page 2

Embedded Hard Drives in Televisions Opportunities for Business Growth American households is likely to increase in the coming months, linked perhaps to reduced spending on entertainment. In the Verizon study, the majority (57 percent) of 1026 American adults surveyed said that they plan to spend more time at home watching TV, rather than pursuing entertainment options outside of the home.1 Furthermore, an increase in the amount of broadcast content available to consumers has produced a surge in demand for DVRs worldwide. Reports indicate that by 2011 more than 50 percent of U.S. households will own a DVR.2 Rapid consumer adoption of DVR technology enhances the commercial viability of television. In fact, a 2008 Nielsen Media Research study indicates that television viewing in American homes has actually increased in parallel with growing DVR uptake.3 These findings comport with similar trends in Asian and European markets. Consumers worldwide are signaling that television is here to stay-a message not lost on manufacturers. The Evolution of Televisions With Built-in Hard Drives Major television manufacturers continue to invest in research and development of televisions with embedded hard drives. In 2005, LG Electronics became the first manufacturer to release a model equipped with an integrated hard drive drive. The LG PY2DR series featured an embedded HD-DVR powered by a 160-GB Seagate® DB35 Series™ drive, enabling storage of up to 14 hours of high-definition programming or up to 62 hours of standard-definition content. Other manufacturers have followed suit, and storage capacity in televisions with embedded hard drives continues to expand. The Hitachi Wooo UT Series includes a built-in 250-GB hard drive, and several leading manufacturers, including Sony and Panasonic, recently announced plans to introduce models with integrated hard drives up to 1 TB in capacity. Popularity in the Japanese Market Televisions with embedded hard drives enjoy considerable commercial success in Asian countries, especially in Japan. Several causes likely drive this development. First, because most of the world's leading consumer electronics manufacturers are based in Japan, consumers there often gain exposure to emerging television technologies ahead of consumers in other markets. A cultural fascination with novel homeentertainment devices, especially enhancements to digital television technology, reinforces this influence. Indeed, consumer electronics analysts routinely look to Japan to search for leading indicators of broader market trends. Moreover, many Japanese consumers need to optimize the utilization of their living space. Accordingly, large numbers of Japanese consumers have embraced televisions that offer integrated high-capacity HD DVR functionality in an ultra-slim profile design. Expansion to Other World Markets As the technology matures, we can expect a surge in demand for televisions with integrated hard drives in other world markets. Hitachi recently released its Wooo Series in the United Kingdom.4 In addition, in a survey of American consumers conducted by In-Stat, more than 40 percent of respondents indicated interest in purchasing a television with built-in DVR capabilities.5 1 Source: MediaBiz: www.mediabiz.com/news/articles/index.cfm?edit_id=10524 2 Source: The Carmel Group report: http://carmelgroup.com/publications/document/digital_video_recorders_time_in_a_magical_box_present_trends_ future_project/ 3 Source: Nielsen Media Research report: www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/menuitem.55dc65b4a7d5adff3f65936147a062a0/?vgnextoid=70 9879ab6a818110VgnVCM100000ac0a260aRCRD 4 Source: HDTV News: www.hdtv-news.co.uk/2008/03/06/hitachi-wooo-displays-coming-to-uk/ 2 5 Source: In-Stat survey: www.instat.com/panels/pdf/2005/2005_feb_dtv.pdf