HDTV Set-Top Box Availability Update: Panasonic, Mitsubishi, and Others Delayed Until January 2001

By C. Hubler · 2000

Mentioned: C. Hubler

Summary

HDTV set-top boxes from Panasonic and Mitsubishi shipped to dealers in December 2000 are for showroom display only, not public sale. Matsushita/Panasonic supplies OEM hardware for multiple brands and plans a simultaneous nationwide retail release, likely delayed until January 2001.


	Subscribe to HDTV Magazine--the world's first HDTV programming guide. Still only $35.00 per year. Click on the HDTV at right. News and commentary every day about the new marvel of high-definition television. Order now.

December 20, 2000

From one of our informed readers comes the following:

Fellow readers,

According to my sources I spoke with today, the announcement on Thursday that Panasonic has shipped its TU-HDS20 HDTV tuners to dealers neglects to specify that the tuners shipped are for showroom demo purposes only. They are not for sale to the public and no stock is available to sell to the public as of yet. Mitsubishi deployed several of its SR-HD400 to dealers on December 15, but these, too, are for showroom display only.

The availability of both these units for sale to the public is nonspecified at this time, though Mitsubishi says its official public release date is "around December 27th"---unlikely because Matsushita/Panasonic is the OEM supplier for ALL the set-top boxes from Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Sharp, and Sony. RCA and Zenith are building their own. Mitsubishi claims that the deal amongst them is that Panasonic will release their version for sale first to the market, then the others will follow afterwards. Panasonic is currently in the process of uploading the Advanced Program Guide software to all the boxes and does not plan to release any for public sale until ALL of them are uploaded (at least it appears that DirecTV has finally delivered workable software!). Panasonic will ship saleable product from its Baltimore, MD and Cypress, CA facilities to all retailers across the country at once--an avalanche instead of a trickle. This may happen as early as Friday, December 22nd. Realistically, because of the Christmas holiday, don't expect them to hit the dealers' shelves until January 2001.

If anybody has info contrary to this, let us all know ASAP.

Happy Holidays, my fellow hi-deffers!"

-- C. Hubler, Burbank, CA