Just days after Samsung declared 3D dead, Philips has announced that none of its 2016 TVs for Europe will support the format. Philips also calls curved TVs “a fad”.
”3D is dead”
Movie theatres will surely love to continue charging extra for glasses and tickets for 3D showings but in the living room the format is gone and forgotten.
At its 2016 launch event in Brussels, TP Vision - who is responsible for Philips TVs in Europe - confirmed that none of its new TVs will support 3D. Not even the high-end OLED TV that the company has coming out later this year will support the format.
The announcement from Philips comes just days after Samsung confirmed that none of its 2016 TVs will support 3D. At the launch event in Brussels Danny Tack, Director Product Strategy & Planning at TP Vision, proclaimed that “3D is dead” and elaborated by saying that since two of the main suppliers of LCD panels globally (LG and Samsung) have decided to phase out 3D, most other other manufacturers who are sourcing panels from the two will have to follow sooner or later.
While Philips sides with Samsung on the matter of 3D, it sides against the Korean company on the matter of curved TVs. Philips has never really pushed curved TVs and in recent years the company has only offered a single range of curved TVs. In 2016, Philips will not offer a single curved TV.
Danny Tack was not afraid to call curved TVs “a fad” and while acknowledging that some customers prefer the curve, he concluded that the form factor is dying in Europe.
At the same event Philips announced a plan to become the number one TV manufacturer in Europe. The company will focus on technologies such as 4K, HDR, OLED, Ambilight, and Android TV.
