On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Global Q2 2011 flat panel TV shipments fall "slightly" due to soft consumer demand and a still-uncertain global economy according to IHS iSuppli-- with shipments falling by 1.3% Q-o-Q and reaching 48.04M units.

In comparison, Q1 2011 shipments total 48.68M.

From the global Q2 2011 total, LCD TVs make 43.39M units-- with a Q-o-Q decrease of -2.7%. Plasma TV shipments reach 4.65M, growing by 13.9% over Q1.

A economic concerns in Europe (alongside N. America and Japan) dampen demand in Q2 2011-- a quarter "usually stronger than the first," the analyst says.

However, flat panel revenues are still up, reaching $31.5 billion (up by 3.6% Q-o-Q) thanks to larger TV sizes and features (3D, IPTV, LED backlighting and higher frequencies) demanding premium prices.

The 32" category still dominates the LCD TV space, even if iSuppli expects 32" market share to fall from 41% in 2010 to 36% in 2011. From a global LCD TV market, W. Europe currently has 18% market share.

Meanwhile the plasma category still depends on "the availability of larger sizes and aggressive prices," even if iSuppli expects the category to start losing the pricing advantage from 2012 onwards. The analyst concludes W. Europe also has 18% share of the global plasma TV market.

Go IHS iSuppli: Global Flat Panel TV Shipments Slighly Down in Q2

Netflix will keep the DVDs after all-- and abandons the controversial plans to spin off DVD rentals into "Qwikster," resulting in... no more changes (other than the previous unpopular changes to pricing structures).

The news comes through a surprise blog update from CEO Reed Hastings.

"It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs," Hastings writes.

Announced just 3 weeks ago, the plan was to have "Netflix" handle streaming video-on-demand, while "Qwikster" was to handle DVD-by-mail-- a move described as either a stroke of genius or simply idiotic, depending on who you were talking to.

Can we conclude Netflix will arrive on European shores in complete form once it launches over here in 2012? No word about that yet, unsurprisingly.

Go DVDs Will Be Staying at Netflix.com

Go Netflix Splits in Two

Lenovo updates the N5901 Multimedia Remote with Keyboard with the N5902, replacing the glossy black finish with a matte fingerprint-proof exterior and adding backlighting to the keys.

The company also includes an optical pointer and a "ridged" scroll bar.

It operates at 2.4GHz frequency, and has an operating range of up to 30 feet according to Lenovo.

Ideal for customers using home theatre PCs, installation requires plugging a USB nano dongle (included) and is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7.

Go Lenovo Enchanced Multimedia Remote N5902

After launching its licensing program this summer, this autumn consumers in USA will be able to buy select movies and TV shows with UltraViolet rights.

According to the consortium Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, UltraViolet combines cloud access with multiple content services for devices. If successful, UltraViolet will carry over into AV integrator’s use of content for certain corporate situations, product demos, cinema, staging, and in some specific cases in digital signage.

This unified set of standards for the digital distribution of premium content, branded under UltraViolet is supported by Sony, Intel, Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Adobe, Comcast, Fox, NBC Universal, Netflix, Warner Bros. and more.

Who’s against it? Apple, of course. And Disney (who has its own propriety system).