Rebecca Day

High-end audio company McIntosh Lab unveiled a new multi-channel power amplifier, AV processor, Blu-ray player, and three pairs of speakers last week at the Savant showroom in New York. The company also unveiled a 50th-anniversary limited-edition version of its MC275 two-channel tube power amplifier, which first shipped in 1961. The MC275 has gone through several refreshes over the years and was out of the McIntosh line from 1972-1994, said President Charles Randall. The MC275 will be available in December for a suggested retail price of $6,500, Randall said. Among new products for 2012, the MX121 home theater processor, MVP 891 universal Blu-ray player and MC8207 seven-channel 1400-watt amplifier combine to create a $14,000 package that’s half of what comparable components in the McIntosh line would command at retail today, Randall said. The MC8207 achieved a lower price point due to new LED-based blue meters on the front panel, and the Blu-ray player “came down a lot” in price because of maturing in the Blu-ray market, he said. The 3D-capable player spins Blu-ray discs, DVDs, Super Audio CDs and CD-R and CD-RW discs, the company said. The electronics will ship in January, and despite lower prices designed to appeal to a new group of audiophiles, distribution will stay the same, Randall said. The company also showed a new center-channel speaker, the LC R80, XR50 bookshelf speakers and the XR100 floorstanding speakers packing 11 mid- and high-frequency drivers and four woofers, he said. Speakers will ship to dealers in February, he said. Randall said the company is “not abandoning our audiophile customers” who “built the brand,” but it wants to bring more people in as audiophiles “without making them so cautious about making a major purchase.” The company hopes to reach the new customer with a systems approach versus component approach, he said. “We want to explain what goes together to make a system and to make it easier so they feel educated,” he said. On the McIntosh website, products will be grouped according to activity, room size and the type of music they listen to, including CD and vinyl records, he said.

Amid the outpouring of emotion at the passing of Apple co-founder and innovator Steve Jobs Wednesday, at 56, we spoke with industry members to reflect on Jobs’ impact on the CE business since the iPod’s release in 2001. Jason Oxman, senior vice president-industry relations at CEA, told us “the CE industry has greatly benefited from the popularity of the iPod, including a robust accessories marketplace.” Although Jobs’ Macworld convention in San Francisco frequently collided with CES on the January calendar, Oxman called Apple a “valued member of CEA” and said the iLounge pavilion at the 2012 International CES will feature more than 75,000 net square feet of iOS accessories products, up from 4,000 square feet when the pavilion launched 2 years ago. Regarding Apple’s future without Jobs, Oxman said “the executive bench at Apple is deep, and Tim Cook will lead Apple in the model of innovation that is the hallmark of this great American company."

Apple’s evolutionary approach with the Apple 4S was greeted positively by analysts we contacted Wednesday. The improvements in the iPhone 4S were “largely expected,” which has generally been the case with recent iPhone revisions, said Walter Piecyk, analyst with BTIG, “but lack of surprises has not translated to lack of growth,” he said. At the same time, aesthetic changes associated with a new form factor “are more likely to drive an upgrade cycle” which was borne out with upgrades to iPhone 4 versus those to iPhone 3GS, Piecyk said. When the iPhone 4 launched in June 2010, unit sales growth jumped more than 68 percent sequentially in Q3 that year, he said. In contrast, the iPhone 3GS launch the year before drove 37 percent sequential growth in the quarter following its June 2009 launch, he said. Part of the stronger 2010 sequential sales growth was also a result of price drop on the 3GS, “which continues to enjoy a long tail of profitability,” he said.

Klipsch unveiled its first AirPlay-enabled product, a powered speaker called the G-17 Air that allows users to stream music wirelessly from an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad running iOS 4.2. The G-17 Air also sports a USB input for direct digital connection and charging of any 30-pin Apple device along with a 3.5mm analog input to accept most digital music players, Klipsch said Monday. The G-17 Air is compatible with Android-based smartphones and tablets if users download a DLNA-capable third-party music app, said Gavin Reeg, global training specialist. “We look forward to when Android-devices become more easily enabled,” he told us. While one Android product may work with the system, another may not, he said, adding, “Consistency is an issue.” Users can pair one iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch at a time using AirPlay, he said, and a Klipsch app walks users through the AirPlay setup. The 30-watt-per-channel system will ship later this month for $549, he said. Klipsch is mulling a customized grille option for the speaker, said Mark Casavant, vice president of product development. The system is part of the Gallery series from Klipsch, Casavant said, and offering users the ability to customize a grille with artwork would fit in with the gallery theme. That kind of option would likely be priced at $70-$100, he said. Klipsch also introduced its first noise-cancelling headphones. The Mode M40 headphones have collapsible ear cups that can bend without breaking and work in non-noise-cancellation mode if batteries run out, a company spokesman said. Priced at $349, the headphones will come with a 2-year warranty when they ship to dealers in November, the company said.

Moving into its next phase, Control4 will be “very focused” on advancing its core business through the custom installation channel in North America, Europe and pockets of Asia, newly named CEO Martin Plaehn told Consumer Electronics Daily Tuesday. It was his seventh day on the job. Plaehn succeeded co-founder Will West, who said in April the company was seeking a new CEO while he slipped into the new position of chief strategy officer. Under Plaehn, Control4 will enhance product lines to be “more consumer-experience focused” in areas including lighting and media and will expand its presence internationally, Plaehn said.

Touting “original, premium programming,” a reach of 100 million people in the U.S. and an “innovative” opportunity for advertisers, executives from Yahoo and ABC News entered a strategic alliance. They said Monday it brings together Yahoo’s technology and reach and the journalism of ABC News, with the goal of becoming the “premier digital media company in the world.” The future of news and information “is completely up for grabs,” said Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The delta between tablet and e-reader shipments is forecast to widen from a relatively slim 3 million units in 2010 to 35 million units this year as sales of tablets, led by the iPad, will surge for the year to a projected 62.5 million, according to data from IDC. By 2015, IDC said, tablets will ship at an annual rate of 135 million units compared with 45 million for e-readers. But don’t count the e-reader out, Tom Mainelli, research director of mobile connected devices at IDC, told attendees of the Intertech Pira eReader event last week. Dropping prices for connected devices in general and divergent needs for portable reading devices will create opportunities for e-readers that are separate from tablets, he said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after Amazon’s announcement of sub-$100 e-readers and a $199 color tablet priced $50 below the Nook Color, Doug Klein, Barnes & Noble vice president of program and product management, took several pokes at his competitor and held on to his company’s magazine content as a differentiator, in his keynote at Intertech Pira’s eReaders conference here. “We're the most successful digital magazine reseller in the world right now because we bet heavily on Nook Color, and we did a lot of work last year,” Klein said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A major boost in capacity led by Samsung Mobile Display will drive growth in the AMOLED (active-matrix OLED) display market to 300 million units in 2015, from 74 million units this year, said IHS iSuppli’s Vinita Jakhanwal. The director for small and medium display research spoke at the OLED World Summit 2011. Smartphones will continue to be the primary driver for AMOLED displays, accounting for 95 percent of shipments to OEMs, falling to 85 percent by 2015, Jakhanwal said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- LG is eyeing a threefold price premium for OLED TVs over high-end LCD in 2013, a 1.5x price differential in 2015 and a crossover point for the two display technologies in 2017, James Lee, research fellow at LG Display, said at the OLEDs World Summit Tuesday. The company plans a 55-inch OLED TV for 2012 and sees design differentiation defining the market in 2013, he said.