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Mitsubishi Exits Mass-Market Consumer TV Biz

post #1 of 29
5/25/11 at 7:00am
Thread Starter 
Mitsubishi Exits Mass-Market Consumer TV Biz
By Julie Jacobson
New Visual Solutions group "acquires" certain assets of MDEA, combines consumer and commercial display groups, ends production of consumer TVs smaller than 65".

Mitsubishi is exiting the mass-market consumer display business to focus on bigger screens and commercial applications.

The company is ceasing production of consumer televisions smaller than 65 inches, and blending its residential and commercial display businesses into a new entity called Mitsubishi Electric Visual Solutions America Inc. (MEVSA).



That means the end of the company's Unisen edge-lit LED TVs with immersive sound technology, although a spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. Mitsubishi announced in March of this year that it would end its LCD HDTV business to focus on larger-screen displays.

Operating out Mitsubishi's U.S. headquarters in Irvine, Calif., MEVSA is "acquiring certain manufacturing, sales and marketing activities of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc.," the erstwhile consumer-display business unit of Mitsubishi.

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post #2 of 29
5/25/11 at 7:05am
I guess the CE companies figure you either watch on a tiny, telephone screen, or on a "JumboTron" sized screen.
Forget the average Joe, who wants to plant his backside on his average sofa, and watch some TV with his average family.

Too bad...especially when most consumer sets have to be replaced in about three years anyway.
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post #3 of 29
5/25/11 at 7:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kenglish View Post
I guess the CE companies figure you either watch on a tiny, telephone screen, or on a "JumboTron" sized screen.
Forget the average Joe, who wants to plant his backside on his average sofa, and watch some TV with his average family.

Too bad...especially when most consumer sets have to be replaced in about three years anyway.
More likely Mitsubishi realized that they don't want to compete in the little-to-no-profit commodity segment of the display market against Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Vizio.

There still are plenty of 32" to 56" displays available at quite low prices. Many of them even have acceptable picture quality.
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post #4 of 29
5/25/11 at 8:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimboG View Post
More likely Mitsubishi realized that they don't want to compete in the little-to-no-profit commodity segment of the display market against Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Vizio.

There still are plenty of 32" to 56" displays available at quite low prices. Many of them even have acceptable picture quality.
What's funny about that is that when I used to sell TV's the mitsubishi LCD's were really nice, but they were expensive and you could get a samsung that looked just as good or better for much cheaper. That and the fact that you could look through the back vents on the TV and see a samsung logo on the inside. Mitsubishi with samsung logos on their internal parts. I guess they sourced their panels from samsung at the time. Too bad for mitsu loyalists.
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post #5 of 29
5/25/11 at 8:32am
Although this really is old news, it's a good move for Mitsu .. big screen DLP that's lightweight and relatively thin and has an inexpensive lamp cost can tap into that projector wannabe market that just won't take the plunge otherwise ..
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post #6 of 29
5/25/11 at 9:48am
It's about time. Everything I bought from Mitsubishi has been of poor quality, didn't last, and was overpriced. Just now you can go into a store and see RPTV Mitsi's without the best PQ priced way past best of breeds from other company's products.
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post #7 of 29
5/25/11 at 9:52am
Mits DLPs are very nice sets. I wish I owned one. But I'll be the negative poster here. With Plasma's and LCD's getting larger every year, Mitsubishi saw the writing on the wall. I think moving upscale only delays their demise. It's one thing for small companies to fill niche markets, but it rarely works for major corporations to do this. And DLP is now a niche format.
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post #8 of 29
5/25/11 at 10:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhufnagel View Post

Mits DLPs are very nice sets. I wish I owned one. But I'll be the negative poster here. With Plasma's and LCD's getting larger every year, Mitsubishi saw the writing on the wall. I think moving upscale only delays their demise. It's one thing for small companies to fill niche markets, but it rarely works for major corporations to do this. And DLP is now a niche format.

Based on Mitsu pricing .. (a 73" RP DLP can be had many times under $1500.00) .. it's a lot of screen real estate for the money .. you won't get that in a LED/LCD .. and their plan is to take the consumer screen size up past 100" at some point ..
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post #9 of 29
5/25/11 at 10:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimboG View Post

More likely Mitsubishi realized that they don't want to compete in the little-to-no-profit commodity segment of the display market against Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Vizio.

There still are plenty of 32" to 56" displays available at quite low prices. Many of them even have acceptable picture quality.

+1

I was thinking the same thing
they have commoditized the flat panel TV market so much...every year they get cheaper and IMO have ramped up demand much past consumer demand

So...they have to do something to get a consumer to buy another TV...keep cutting costs each year along with some "minimal" new bells and whistles

Warren
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post #10 of 29
5/25/11 at 12:29pm
Samsung has a LCD LED display at 75" for over $10K USD. So pricing is still higher on the LCD side with large, over 65" screen sizes.
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post #11 of 29
5/25/11 at 12:30pm
The Mits. DLP's I've seen always looked too dim. But I do love their front projectors.
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post #12 of 29
5/25/11 at 12:39pm
Ultra saddening. I have had a Unisen LCD for 3 years now
and completely love it. No other tv like it. Amazing picture and the sound( with my hsu subwoofer)blows away the Bose Videowave which is 4 times the price.
Oh well, come up with something brilliant and amazing, what's to do but take it off the market..
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post #13 of 29
5/25/11 at 2:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wilbur_the_goose View Post

It's about time. Everything I bought from Mitsubishi has been of poor quality, didn't last, and was overpriced. Just now you can go into a store and see RPTV Mitsi's without the best PQ priced way past best of breeds from other company's products.

My Mitsu has been great quality, and has lasted for a long time.
It was over priced though
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post #14 of 29
5/25/11 at 5:44pm
Quote:


The Mits. DLP's I've seen always looked too dim. But I do love their front projectors.

my 65" Mitsubishi will put out almost 90 ftl. if I wanted it to. most film like set I have ever seen.
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post #15 of 29
5/25/11 at 6:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wilbur_the_goose View Post

It's about time. Everything I bought from Mitsubishi has been of poor quality, didn't last, and was overpriced. Just now you can go into a store and see RPTV Mitsi's without the best PQ priced way past best of breeds from other company's products.

Good thing your experience doesn't represent the rest of us. I had a mits 27" tube for years and never had an issue with it. Quality all around. Their DLPs aren't any worse than the older Samsung sets. They've had boring cosmetics but for the money if you have a media room and can't afford/dont want to do a pj they're by far the best bang for the buck.
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post #16 of 29
5/25/11 at 7:35pm
My Mits HD-ready CRT RPTV just won't die, and the picture is so good I cannot justify replacing it. I have never had any trouble with it. I manually converge it once every 1-2 years, mostly because I expect perfection. The convergence holds fine for a very long time if not moved much.

This year I broke down and bought an HDMI to Component video converter because I upgraded my AVR to a mostly HDMI unit. Cost with tax and shipping: about $90. Remember the DVI boards that could be added to our TVs for about $1,000?

Sad to see Mits leave the consumer market, but these days it is cut throat.
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post #17 of 29
5/25/11 at 7:47pm
Now if mitsu can redo its dlp line with LED's like Samsung did with the new darkstar chips, it will easily compete with led lcd's and plasmas. Plus the led dlp's will be bigger!
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post #18 of 29
5/26/11 at 8:49am
I just wished they'd bring their big TV's to Canada ... sign !
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post #19 of 29
5/26/11 at 4:05pm
My Mitsubishi 73" DLP is very good. It's probably a good move for Mitsubishi to focus on DLP technolody.

On a side note, I'm talking to some folks in Hollywood about a remake of Die Hard with Hans Gruber, Diana from V and Simon Gruber. Do you think they would be interested if Odin, Thor, Odysseus & Penelope were added? I think it would be too complicated. Inception was too simple, there were only 4 or 5 layers. Think about adding billions of tiny mirrors like DLP technology.
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post #20 of 29
5/26/11 at 5:46pm
what ever happened to the laservue sets?
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post #21 of 29
5/27/11 at 5:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by irfan View Post

what ever happened to the laservue sets?

They weren't really picked up by dealers but any Mitsubishi Diamond dealer can get you one. One of the few that does openly carry them is located in my area so I've seen the sets on display. They are quite stunning.
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post #22 of 29
5/27/11 at 8:54pm
Wasn't Mitsubishi supposed to be coming out with some kind of laser TV that was supposed to put everything else to shame? What ever happened to that? I've asked about it a few times at Best Buy and H.H. Gregg over the last year, but none of the sales people ever knew what I was talking about.
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post #23 of 29
5/28/11 at 1:51pm
I worked at Circuit City and Ultimate Electronics until both of their deaths. I can't count how many Mitsubishi DLP TVs we replaced through Mitsubishi. I'd say in just this last year, when I was at Ultimate, our store alone, replaced over 100 of them. Now, most of them were typically 3-4 years old. But, they'd always be DLP and they'd always die around 3 years old. Mitsubishi would then offer the customer a few hundred dollars toward a new TV and so the customer would come to our store for a replacement.

After what I saw over the last year, I'd NEVER want a Mitsubishi TV, especially a DLP. Not to mention, all of their LCDs are priced like, 30-40% higher than every other company and their sets look no better. I say, great, make your exit from the market. LOL!

To anyone who has one and likes it, I'm thrilled for you, but cross your fingers.
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post #24 of 29
5/29/11 at 7:01am
I bought my Mit 65711 in '02 for $3700. It's been ISFed twice and the lenses cleaned once. It still has a perfect picture and occassionally pops off and I turn it right back on.

Nine years and if anything happened to it, I would be at a loss at what to replace it with, especially with its film like picture.
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post #25 of 29
5/29/11 at 2:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim McC View Post

The Mits. DLP's I've seen always looked too dim. But I do love their front projectors.

Are you looking for torch mode?

Two things that probably helped make this decision....the economy and the future demand for bigger screens.
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post #26 of 29
5/31/11 at 9:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy View Post

Wasn't Mitsubishi supposed to be coming out with some kind of laser TV that was supposed to put everything else to shame? What ever happened to that? I've asked about it a few times at Best Buy and H.H. Gregg over the last year, but none of the sales people ever knew what I was talking about.

Laservue
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post #27 of 29
5/31/11 at 3:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrEastSide View Post

I worked at Circuit City and Ultimate Electronics until both of their deaths. I can't count how many Mitsubishi DLP TVs we replaced through Mitsubishi. I'd say in just this last year, when I was at Ultimate, our store alone, replaced over 100 of them. Now, most of them were typically 3-4 years old. But, they'd always be DLP and they'd always die around 3 years old. Mitsubishi would then offer the customer a few hundred dollars toward a new TV and so the customer would come to our store for a replacement.

To anyone who has one and likes it, I'm thrilled for you, but cross your fingers.

Strange .. I have a relative that was part of the management team at one of the St Louis stores and he swore by their quality .. in fact sold some to other relatives and they are all going strong .. lamp life was a bit of an issue but the lamps for these things are cheap compared to a projector ..
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post #28 of 29
6/1/11 at 2:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgkdragn View Post

Strange .. I have a relative that was part of the management team at one of the St Louis stores and he swore by their quality .. in fact sold some to other relatives and they are all going strong .. lamp life was a bit of an issue but the lamps for these things are cheap compared to a projector ..

I don't know. I worked in our warehouse and the task always fell to my team and I to go remove the old TV sets and usually deliver the new one. I can't count how many that Mitsubishi partially replaced for people over the last year. Their LCDs, I never heard anything bad about them. But, we had so many people coming in with credit from Mitsubishi for their old DLPs, it was insane. I can't remember the model, but it was typically one of two models that would always break down. So perhaps there was a known flaw in these two models that Mitsubishi was always willing to give people partial credit for.

I'm not trying to bash Mitsubishi and kudos to anyone that has one and loves it. I just saw a lot of DLPs come back and don't know that I'd ever want one, not even just a Mitsubishi DLP, but a DLP, period.
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post #29 of 29
6/2/11 at 4:25pm
I have had a Samsung DLP now for a few years. Couldn't have been happier with my purchase. It is one of the older S series units. Still on the original bulb too, now over 3000 hours.

When she dies it will be replaced with a projector. I will not spend the dough on LCD's or plasmas. Never happening.
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