‘Almost No Margin’

Sanyo Curbing Retail Expansion for Front Projectors

June 11, 2010 by Mark Seavy|Top News

LAS VEGAS - Sanyo North America is curbing expanding distribution of its front projectors at retail as it sharpens focus on AV dealers and VARs selling them to businesses and schools, Sam Malik, vice president and general manager of sales and marketing, told us at Infocomm.

While Sanyo is negotiating a renewal of its agreement to supply Best Buy with derivative models, it will limit retail distribution outside of that, Malik said. Best Buy last year carried two Sanyo business projectors and a home theater model in about 700 stores. Best Buy officials weren’t available for comment. Sanyo had also launched sales through regional chains Brandsmart and Nebraska Furniture Mart (CED June 19 p1).

Retail isn’t more than 10 percent of Sanyo’s front projector revenue in North America, Malik said. Bestbuy.com Thursday was carrying Sanyo’s PLC-XR301 ($699) and PLC-XR201 ($569) with 1,024x768 resolution, 3,000 and 2,200 lumens, respectively. “We made a push and had success in home theater products, but not so much” in business projectors, Malik said. “The volume is great, but there is almost no margin and you have to have a really great balance to do both. It’s easier to have one major retailer with some derivatives that don’t conflict in the market. If you can do [derivatives] cleanly, and keep it under control, it makes sense."

Sanyo is continuing to deploy QuaDrive technology in front projectors. Sanyo redesigned the QuaDrive engine, inserting an inorganic LCD panel and adding edge blending and color correction, Malik said. QuaDrive, introduced in 2008, features LCDs with a color control device that serves as a shutter to boost yellow output and increase brightness. The technology uses LCDs to modulate that color, taking a little yellow from red to deliver 10,000 lumens in the case of the new PLC-HF1000 model ($21,000). The PLC-HF10000 contains three 1.65-inch LCDs with a 17:9 aspect ratio, 2,048x1,080 resolution, dual 380-watt UHP lamps delivering 10,000 lumens and 3,000:1 contrast ratio. The projector consumes less than 1 kilowatt of power, said Kazuto Sugimura, general manager of the engineering department in projector division. Previous QuaDrive models used 1.3-inch LCDs and the 2009 model delivered 12,000 lumens and 1,024x768 resolution.

While the QuaDrive has been aimed at 7,000 lumen and up projectors, Sanyo is weighing adding a 4,000-5,000 lumen model in 2011, Malik said. “We recognize that if we can produce a QuaDrive product in 4,000-5,000 lumen range there is a sweet spot in the market that wants that type quality and color capability,” Malik said. “We're researching it and trying to figure out if we can do it at a price point competitive to where everybody else is. There is a premium for this type of technology, but how much is it worth compared to a production cost basis?"

Sanyo also revamped its so-called short-throw projector to add 3D. The PDG-DWL2500 ($1,995) and PDG-DXL2000 ($1,895) contain a separate ASIC to handle field sequential 3D. The projectors are aimed at schools and demos featured biology content that was viewed using XpanD stereoscopic active glasses. The PDG-DWL2500 can deliver an 80-inch image at a distance of 12.6 inches from the display screen, while the PDG-DXL2000 can provide one at 15.1 inches. The DWL2500 can display images up to 110 inches and DXL2000 at 90 inches. The LP-XL50 had delivered an 80-inch image at 19.7 inches. The DWL2500 contains a 16:10 aspect ratio and 1,280x800 resolution, 2,000:1 contrast ratio and 2,500 lumens. The DXL2000 features 1,024x768 resolution and 2,000 lumens.

Sanyo also is among the first projector suppliers to field models using Philips’ ImageCare lighting technology. ImageCare, designed around Philips UHP lamps and Seiko-Epson LCD panels, controls white level and raises or lowers brightness and power consumption, based on what’s being displayed. ImageCare targets 200-230-watt UHP lamps and can lower power consumption 30 percent, said Satoru Sonoda, senior product marketing manager for front projection at Philips. It will be extended to up to 400-watt UHP lamps in 2011, he said. ImageCare could extend the life of a UHP lamp to 7,000 hours, from 6,000 hours, Philips Lighting Global Marketing Director Michael Rombouts said. The technology initially carries a $100 premium. But that could be lowered by the time Sanyo’s PLC-XU350A ships late this year with 1,024x768 resolution, 3,500 lumens and 5,000:1 contrast ratio, Malik said.

Infocomm Notebook

Ricoh hired a former Toshiba front-projector executive and several former engineers from the company to help it enter the category in Japan in the next year, said sources familiar with the plans. Better known for its printers and copiers, Ricoh will likely field LCD- and DLP-based front projectors and limit distribution to Japan for about two years, sources said. Ricoh will market the projectors through its direct sales force. Ricoh officials weren’t available for comment. Toshiba dropped front projectors last year, and several of its former U.S. executives have moved into new jobs. Former Toshiba Sales Director Sam Malik is vice president and general manager of sales and marketing for Sanyo projectors. Former Toshiba Product Marketing Manager Jane Poon is working in a similar post for Toshiba consumer storage products. Toshiba Semiconductor also has taken over development of pico projector light engines and will seek OEM agreements, sources said. Toshiba Semiconductor officials weren’t available for comment.

InFocus will hold off on expanding its home theater projectors until Texas Instruments’ full-bandwidth 3D 1080p DLP chips arrive in 2011, Product Line Director Benjamin Joy said. 3D projection is currently achieved by stacking front projectors or building two light engines into a single chassis, and the goal is to build 3D capability into a single device, Joy said. LEDs also may play into InFocus’s plans for home theater products, he said. “It opens a lot of new avenues and price points because you don’t have to align the projectors,” Joy said. InFocus markets the SP8602 ($4,999) with a 0.67-inch DLP chip direct to CEDIA-channel installers, having parted from distributor AVAD last year. The 1080p SP8602 has 1,400 lumens and 30,000:1 contrast ratio. InFocus has stressed selling projectors in business and education markets since the company was bought by John Hui’s Image Holdings last year for $39 million. “We still have the home product, but we don’t put a lot behind it -- yet still manage to sell a fair amount of it,” Joy said. InFocus once sold home theater projectors under the ScreenPlay brand. The company re-entered the flat-panel business in March when it shipped 42- ($4,999), 55- ($2,499), and 65-inch ($6,999) models for commercial displays. The displays are sourced from Chi Mei Innolux and AU Optronics, the former providing the 65-inch panel. The INF Thin Display series panels feature 1,900x1,200 resolution, 450 nits brightness, VGA and HDMI ports. InFocus also is in discussions with Hui-owned companies Fugoo and Fuhu about integrating their technologies into front projectors, Joy said. But any related products won’t arrive before 2011, Joy said. Fugoo developed a Wi-Fi connectivity box. Fuhu develops Web 2.0 software, including urFooz, a portable ID that gives users a single identity for all Internet activities.