Which where the last tv sets Made in U.S.A. (I'm meaning with components Made in U.S.A.) and when?

Which where the last tv sets Made in U.S.A. (I'm meaning with components Made in U.S.A.) and when?

It's almost impossible to answer your question. Various manufacturers, started using components from the far east and European suppliers, to a larger extent, in the mid-50's.
Admiral used Japanese and German resistors in their sets in the early 50's, because of the so-called, Korean war shortages.
Other members, can shed more light on this subject. :scratch2:

Well if you use up to let's say 30%-40% procent imported components, is one thing. But when you use more, it's not quyte 100% procent your product any longer.

Well, I have a Portacolor 2 made by GE in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1984. That had to be pretty near to the end, I would think..

I'd say that by the '80's, most of a TV's internal components were imported from other countries.

I agree radiotvnut. all circuits are probably printed and imported from China or by other countries....

Saw an Element flat screen tv the other day proudly displaying a logo that said assembled in USA. Now I am sure it is all asian parts imported here then assembled. My question is exactly who is assembling them in the USA?

Saw an Element flat screen tv the other day proudly displaying a logo that said assembled in USA. Now I am sure it is all asian parts imported here then assembled. My question is exactly who is assembling them in the USA?

Flextronics down in Pflugerville Texas is where my money is. (I'm quite familiar with this end of the CE industry.) Its the same trick the auto makers used decades ago. Import "unfinished goods sub-assemblies," then import some of your foreign employees on visas to finish the goods, and pay less import tax because your visa dudes are bolting the seats in to the back and changing the rims and tires. It goes from a "commercial vehicle" to a "passenger vehicle" and you "save" $1800 in the process. (Including the disposal costs for the rims and tires.)

Assembled in USA for CE just means "Connectors were mated, screws were turned, and tape was dispensed." By no means should you confuse it for "American Jobs Built This." The "front desk" people at Flextronics all pass for American, but if you are lucky and trustworthy enough to be permitted to peek onto the actual work-floor you'd see nothing but visa workers from the far east. Everything to do with saving costs of importation, nothing at all to do with the American economy. :(

But in 1976-1980 there where still tv sets that use Made in U.S.A. components?

But in 1976-1980 there where still tv sets that use Made in U.S.A. components?

There were still CRT plants in the USA up through like 1988 I think, so if you consider things by weight then yes, those TVs were > 50% made in USA.


Basically CRTs, iron core transformers, speakers, and the plastic chassis mouldings are things that aren't cost-effective to ship halfway around the globe due either to weight or volume, and were the last things to be finally off-shored when everything else became so insanely cheap as to finally offset the costs.

But in 1976-1980 there where still tv sets that use Made in U.S.A. components?

Back then, U.S. makes seemed to be about 60% U.S. made parts. CRT's, cabinets, knobs, flybacks, yokes and transformers.
It all depended on the practice of the manufacturer.

But in 1976-1980 there where still tv sets that use Made in U.S.A. components?
There were no 100% US sets by then. You could always find some
small parts made in Europe or Asia. There were lots of sets that
were almost 100% US if you count major parts & board assembly.
I will speak for Zenith color sets. They made almost all if not all
of the CRT's, FBT's,varactor tuners, wood cabinets & assembly here.
Plastic parts & hardware etc were mostly US sourced.
You could find some small parts from overseas. This held for
the other major US brands for the most part.
As far as who was last Zenith, RCA (GE, RCA, Proscan) &
North American Phillips ( Sylvania, Philco, Magnavox & Phillips)
lasted into the mid 90's with relatively US made sets.

BTW we used to sell Romanian TV stands, they were pretty good !

73 Zeno:smoke:

73 Zeno:smoke:

But unleass they where 60-70% procent american?
What do you mean by tv stands?

A little research found that there is a 315,000 SF factory owned by Element Electronics in Winnsboro South Carolina. Yes they are using a lot of Asian parts, but acording to their CEO they are looking for American made alternatives. From an aritcle on Yahoo Finance. We shall see.

What do you mean by tv stands?

Small tables just big enough to fit a table model TV set on. Table with tall skinny legs.

But unleass they where 60-70% procent american?
What do you mean by tv stands?
If you look at "jobs" back then it was probably 90% US to
build a major US brand TV. So maybe 90% of the money
spent to build a US set was spent in the US & employed US
workers. They were then sold also to Canada, & many Central and
S. American countries.
The resistors, caps, & semi's imported does not involve many jobs
compared to major parts like CRT's etc. So I consider them true
US sets.

Stands are the tables built for TV's, stereos etc. The ones from
Romania were well made. Also for a while got some that
came from the old Yugoslavia. Wish I remember the name but
its been too long ago.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Oh, furniture Made in Romania.

Small tables just big enough to fit a table model TV set on. Table with tall skinny legs.

Here's a typical one
https://www.etsy.com/listing/200744138/vintage-metal-tv-stand-rolling-cart?ref=market

Note the notches in the cross-pieces to catch the feet of the table model TV (typically a 19-inch diagonal model).

Its a Gusdorf, sold a ton of that model cut for
Zenith 17" & 19" E-line + Good stands.

73 Zeno:smoke:

There is a factory in Detroit building Elements as well...