Cello, UK’s Only TV Maker, Bows ‘Platinum’ 4K Lineup With Built-in Soundbars

Cello Electronics, which bills itself as Britain’s only TV manufacturer, released five new models of Android-based 4K smart sets in a lineup that’s being dubbed the “Platinum range.” The sets all come with integrated soundbars and will be available in October at prices ranging from 299 pounds ($402) for the 32-inch set to 979 pounds ($1,315) for the 65-inch model. Cello will produce the models at its plant in County Durham in northeast England, CEO Brian Palmer told us at the Platinum launch event Thursday in London. “We now have 50,000 square feet with two assembly lines, warehouse and office space” at the County Durham facility, said Palmer. Cello tried selling TVs through U.K. supermarket chains, “but found it a dangerous business to be in, and pulled out,” he said. “They were sending returns in bin bags. So now we sell by mail order and through independent distributors.” Cello gets its displays from “all the usual sources -- Samsung, LG and China -- to keep control on the prices,” he said: “There’s not much difference in how they perform.” Cello also has been doing a good business in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda, with a range of digital TVs that have built-in lithium-ion batteries and come with a 30-watt solar panel for 10 hours of playing time on a full charge, he said. The sets also can power an LED light and charge a mobile phone, he said. “There is digital TV to receive there,” but 80 percent of the population has “no grid power,” Palmer told us. “These solar battery sets are also popular with British lorry drivers. They can watch TV at night and not find their vehicle battery is flat in the morning so they cannot start the engine. They then recharge during the day.” Palmer also said all the U.K.’s prison population is watching TV on sets made by Cello, albeit not labeled as such. The sets, and even the remote controls, are transparent so nothing can be hidden inside, he said. The control software is modified, too, so the prison authorities can control what channels the prisoners watch, he said.