Hisense Touts Company Brand at New York Luxury Show, Leaves Sharp TV at Home

Hisense was a notable addition -- and its premium Sharp TV brand a notable no-show -- at the Luxury Technology Show in New York Wednesday. Hisense’s appearance at a luxury tech event signals the company is “now playing in that market,” Chris Ford, national marketing manager, told us. Hisense demo'd its curved 65-inch 65H10C 4K Ultra HD TV at the event to show the company offers more than a “40-inch Roku TV for a kid’s dorm,” Ford said. Features of the $2,499 TV include 3D, which Ford called a “nice to have feature” for the money, Hisense’s ULED dynamic backlight control technology, a quantum dot display and upscaling from any source that’s “close to 4K.” On why Hisense is pushing Hisense to the luxury U.S. market rather than the more familiar Sharp brand, Ford said, “Hisense is going to be the lead brand” for the company, after its buy of Sharp’s TV business last summer (see 1508030046). Sharp technology -- including AquoDimming and its quantum dot technology -- is key to Hisense’s advancement, Ford said, but the company doesn’t want its reputation as a TV brand to come across as Sharp. “It’s Hisense," he said, "and it’s the real deal."