Consumer Electronics: Thousands Of Products, One Consumer (MSFT)(SNE)(YHOO)(CMCSA)

Consumer Electronics

Published: January 7, 2008 5:51 am

This is the list for just one day. The wild paroxyxm of announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show has begun.

Yahoo! (YHOO) says it will open up the software for its mobile products allowing outside programmers to build applications on top of it. Not mentioned in the release is the fact that Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and several handset companies are doing the same thing.

Microsoft has cut deals with Disney (DIS), CBS (CBS), NBC, and several other content companies to allow their programs to come into homes using the base of ten million Xbox Live customers. Somehow it was lost that similar services are offered by cable companies, telecom operators, Amazon (AMZN), Tivo (TIVO), Netflix (NFLX), and Apple (AAPL).

Sony (SNE) announced that it sold over 1.2 million PS3s in North America making its Blu-ray HD disk player more widely available. Sony does not mention that adding the feature has made the PS3 so expensive that it has been easily outsold by the Nintendo Wii and XBox 360.

Comcast (CMCSA) put out news that it is building a new service which will make it easier for the consumer to watch TV without needing multiple devices to control DVD, DVR, and VOD products.

All of this is aimed at one consumer. Most of it is meant to work on his PC, TV, or handset.

The problem with all of the news is that the consumer has a limited amount of money, limited time, and a circumscribed interest in having dozens of features on his devices.

There are, of course, consumer electronics nuts, who are, perhaps 5% of the population. They have ten boxes on top of their TVs. They carry a Blackberry, and iPhone, and a GPS. But, there are not enough of them to matter.

That is why so many products launched at CES are stillborn.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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