1994 Ad

Discount Store News, Jan 3, 1994

LAS VEGAS -- If multimedia was wildly popular in 1993, and it was, industry pundits are going to have to find a new term for its prospects in 1994. At this year's winter CES, registration of multimedia-oriented exhibitors, a large contingent a year ago, grew a staggering 600%, according to the show's organizers.

While most of the growth comes from the software end, new platforms are proliferating as well. Joining MPC and Mac standard CD-ROM, Sega CD, TurboGrafx and the rejuvenated Philips CD-I, are 3DO (introduced this fall), Commodore's Amiga CD-32, Atari's Jaguar with a CD upgrade and possibly a Nintendo CD product. A year ago, CD-1 was a tough sell at $700 or so; Magnavox models are now on the market at prices sinking to $400, and some of the nation's top consumer electronics retailers, such as specialty chains Best Buy, The Incredible Universe, Roberds, and BrandsMart USA, plus hard lines discounter Service Merchandise, have made commitments to the product, installing fully operational units so consumers can try before they buy.

Look for a flood of attractive add-ons, including a new MPEG full video attachment that will bring feature movies to CD in all their digital glory for the first time.

In the pocket category, Franklin, Mount Holly, N.J. and Sony, New York, have made their digital books a viable product category for those who need a lot of information at their fingertips. Franklin has signed agreements with major data base publishers, and has introduced a series of home-oriented software, like Parents' Emergency Medical Guide. Now that there is a certain ubiquity in the market--sales of MPC CD-ROM could top 15 million by this time next year and CD-I, after a slow start, is well on the way to a million units sold--software producers are starting to crank out extremely attractive products.

In the kids' area, look for "We're Back" from Hi Tech Expressions, New York, a cooperative role-playing game for young children based on the hit movie, and available on most platforms, the Yearn to Learn series from Image Smith, Torrance, Calif. A new series of children's "games" Paramount Interactive, Palo Alto, Calif., including sequels to the hit "Richard Scarry's Busytown" and "Lenny's Music Toons" titles will debut. The latter lets kids make up their own band and film a music video.

For adults, T.HQ Software, Calabasas, Calif., will show the interactive versions of the hit virtual reality movie "The Lawnmower Man" for Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Game Boy. (See Entertainment Software story in this issue's Computer Product Retailing supplement.)

Major computer software companies will be out in full force, and Microsoft, Redmond, Wash. with a new lineup of software aimed at the home user (in entertainment and productivity) leads the way. Along with new titles, the company will show its repriced version of Microsoft Works for Windows, which will sell for under $90, suggested price.

In hardware, Hughes and RCA will finally introduce DirecTV, the retail friendly satellite "cable" system, which is due to go online this spring. Comprised of a $700 18-inch satellite dish/decoder/remote control that can be purchased at many mass retail outlets, the system will offer 200 channels of broadcast and cable channels, pay-per-view movies, special interest programming and "team" sports packages that would let, say, a Philadelphia Phillies fan living in Seattle watch every Phillies game broadcast for a yearly fee. Programmers already on board include all Turner stations, the Playboy Channel, the Golf Channel, E! Network, two new news and entertainment channels from Canadian TV and about a dozen others. Prices have not yet been established for basic service, consisting of about 20 to 30 channels.

As usual, Sharp, Mahwah, N.J., saves its best for CES, partly because it churns out so many new products in Japan that the American division never knows which ones will arrive in Las Vegas. Look for mini versions of its View Cam camcorder, new Mini-Disc and other audio products, and Sharp's version of Apple's Newton.

In audio, look for expanded-storage CD units, along the line of Los Angeles-based Fisher's 24-disc changer and Sony's 100-disc model. Who knows what people want with that much music at one time, but the 24-disc model seem o be moving well at retail, according to Luria's executive vp, merchandising, Jeff Bayer. Sanyo has been expanding line of fully featured, low-priced electronics products, and will likely have an even more expanded line at the show.

Also, the show should see introductions of Mini Disc and DCC technology from licensed manufacturers. Mini Disc, available only from Sony to date, seems to be out-performing DCC, perhaps because the two items are so close in price, and early adopters see the little recordable CDs as a "new" technology, and DCC as an update of the standard magnetic tape cassette.

NEC, Chicago, recently introduced a triple-speed CD-ROM player that it may show at CES.

Quebec-based Forminco, the ergonomic office furniture supplier, will show a line of mass market-priced workstations and computer tables aimed at discount and warehouse club chains.