European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 10, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 7 shortages make to sets hot items Basic models losing out to expensive options by Andrew Pollack Las vegas Nev. Not the hottest product at this year s consumer electronics show is one of the oldest the television set. So Strong has the demand been for television set around the world that there is now a growing shortage. The shortage is not Likely to result in appliance stores having dark showrooms devoid of the usual dozens of sets playing the same program. But it i Likely to result in slight Price increases and in reduced availability of less expensive sets As manufacturer shift their scarce resources toward higher priced products. There Are almost no Black and White television available for Purchase said Edward k. Ryan the vice president of sales and marketing for the Emerson radio corp., a television Vendor based in North ber Gen . As for color televisions he said some of the product assortments next year will Start with Remote control. There will be no rotary  Ryan and others were interviewed at the International Winter consumer electronics show the showcase of the Industry s latest in wizardry and gadgetry that every year fills Las vegas to overflowing. This year s show which began on saturday seems to be upbeat but with few truly new products. Television manufacturers say they cannot get enough picture tubes to make All the sets they could sell. The shortage of picture tubes has existed since the Spring but now it s getting worse said Osami Suzuki a vice presi Dent at Toshiba America inc s consumer products sector. He estimated that picture tube production capacity was 25 percent below the demand for television sets worldwide. Executives say it could be six months to three years before the picture tube s capacity catches up with demand. The cause 9f the shortage is that the Market for television sets in China and India has suddenly opened up the executives say. Another Factor they say is that korean manufacturers who made Many of the least expensive televisions Are putting More of their picture tubes into computers a business into which they Are trying to expand. Most manufacturers have announced Price hikes of 2percent to 7 percent. Price increases Are also being announced on other such products As videocassette record ers because of Chip shortages and the strength of the yen. Some of the executives think Low end videocassette re corders May become harder to find As manufacturers stress More expensive systems. But it is unclear whether retailers who Are fiercely competitive will pass on the increases to Consumers. The manufacturers Are also shifting to deluxe product with higher prices and profit margins. The emphasis is visitors to the 17th Winter consumer electronics show in Las vegas Check out Toshiba s 3-d glasses. On Large screen High performance televisions said Neilander Dussen the president of the Sony corporation of America. While a few years ago 25-Inch screens were the larg est available manufacturers now offer screen sizes of 27 inches to 35 inches. Many Are also offering so called improved definition sets which use electronic techniques to improve the Sharpness of the picture. This indistinct from High definition television which will re quire a new broadcasting system and is still a few years away. The renewed emphasis on television reflects to som extent the fact that the consumer electronics Industry has no new product to bring growth. Last year Colo television sales in the United states grew by 4 percent to a record 20 million according to figures released Here by the electronic industries association the Trad group sponsoring the show. But sales of videocassette recorders which have been the Industry s growth engine for most of the dec Ade declined for the second straight year according to the figures. Some products Are showing rapid growth though the number of units sold is still Small. Sales of Cam corders a portable video movie camera Are growing by 20 percent to 30 percent a year and reached 2.1 million units last year in the United states. An eve newer category that shows Promise is the combination of videocassette recorders and tiny liquid Crystal Dis play televisions. Another potentially big new product digital audiotape has been stalled by the opposition of record companies which fear the machines will Lead to wide spread copying of compact disks. Most manufacturer this year did not display digital tape players an Indica Tion that interest in them might be Cooling. As with televisions the most popular categories Attis year s show seem to be rebirths of products shown several years ago now with improved technology. The Best example is the video game which Rose and fell in the Early 1980s and is now Back. The Nintendo co., the japanese manufacturer of the leading game machine occupied almost the whole convention Halley itself. One of the products attracting the most attention Inthis category was a Force from Broder bund software inc. Of san Rafael Calif. With this device instead of using a stick to control the machine players can do so by moving their hands in the air. Sensors in the device detect the hand move ment. In playing Mike Tyson s punch out for in stance one can actually throw punches in the air. Juror Over Calendar causes school to halt sales Pineville la. A a fund raising Calendar with photos of Louisi Ana College students in bathing suit was As scintillating As a Sears Catalon but the Small Baptist school halted it Sale following protests from ministers. I thought it was in very poor taste for a Christian College said the Rev. Charles Hutzler pastor of the Alpine Baptist Church. I was outraged. It makes us look As if we re Liberal  the uproar Over the men of Louisian College Calendar which was produced to help the school s chorus raise Money for a tour began after the Alexandria daily town talk ran a picture from the Calendar showing a male student and two female students in a hot tub. After a week of questions an complaints by ministers and other school supporters the Rural Central Louisiana school decided to Stop the Calendar s Sale school spokesman Lyn Rollins said Friday. Only 23 copies had been sold at the school Bookstore Rollins said. The College which has a full time enrolment of about 800, is operated by the Louisiana Baptist convention the state Arm of the Southern Baptist convention. School president or. Robert , was quoted in the Baptist Mes Sage the Louisiana Baptist convention publication As saying the people he talked to feared it would give the col lege a Playboy image. But he said Overall the pictures of the male students were about As scintillating As a Sears  Rollins said the members of the Cho rus who created the Calendar had asked the school administration to endorse itto help sales. The administrators declined but voiced no objections until the juror broke out he said. Kandy key one of the students inthe hot tub picture said her Mother bought a copy of the Calendar and approved of it As did members of the Church she attends. The women wore one piece bathing suits. They tease me s9me, but basically they did t see anything wrong with it said key 23. I love it said John c. Smith 23,another student in the hot tub shot. I m becoming a cult Star. Andy War hol would have been so proud of  hostage s brother launches Appeal to Bush of a i a 171 o / a of a rat n.4l a.  a. J Acala Fla. A the brother of the longest held american hostage in Lebanon is spearheading a drive he Hopes will direct 200,000 letters to the Whitehouse by George Bush s inauguration Jan. 20. The state department has told us they have no Man Date on this Issue. They think the people Don t care said John Anderson an Ocala resident whose brother Terry was kidnapped in Beirut almost four years ago. We rout to show them the people do still  Anderson said he thinks Bush will be More responsive to his pleadings than president Reagan but he does t plan to take that attitude for granted. Our Effort is to be sure he keeps the hostages i mind to make it one of his first  Terry Anderson chief Middle East correspondent for the associated press was kidnapped on March 16, 1985. Eight other americans taken hostage since then Are still being held captive. His brother said he disagrees with those who speculate that attention Only makes the hostages More valuable to their kidnappers. Virtually every hostage who has been released has made statements that it was because of efforts to keep their names in the news he said. If the terrorists thought nobody cared they d just kill them. This inmost definitely an Effort to keep them alive As Well As to get them  John Anderson said he and his family Are not asking the government to Deal with the terrorists just open dialogue and release iranian assets Frozen in this country. John Anderson can be written for information on the letter drive at free the hostages . Box 6692, Ocala Fla. 32678