Zenith's Decline

[Telecolor 3007]

In Europe, the Japanese tv sets reduced the number of sets produced in Italy, France (throu "Thomson" made good tv sets up untill the '80's - or even the early '90's) and U.K. (the U.K. tv manufacturing industry declined faster then other Europeanen ones... not only because the Asia imports, but because it wasn't very inovative). But the West-Germans and the Dutch still made tv's up untill the '80's... in the '90's, those companies still exsited, but I don't think the tvs where any longer Made in Germany or Made in Holland.
In Eastern-Europe things where somehow better, since almost every country had unleass one tv manufacturer. In Romania we made some tube sets using Japanese components! (the C.R.T. wasn't always Japanese) Those tv sets where among the most realible ever to be made around here! Some other sets had japanese C.R.T.'s (my <<Telecolor>> 3007 haves an "Toshiba" one - other made have Europenanen C.R.T.'s - depends on what they could get in theyr hands in a certain moment of time); some portable sets (during communism we made only b & w portable sets) had 3rd qualty "N.E.C." C.R.T.'s.
After Communism... some still made sets after 1989. In Romania the things worked up untill around 1997-1998, when because of the bad management *, cheap Chinese and Turkish sets things went dowmn. For the Romaninas, the tv sest made by Japanes brands where expensive... but "GoldStar" and "Samsung" where more affordable and those early to mid '90's "Samungs"s worked for yeras!

* I'm talking about the main company, "N.E.I." ("Network Electronica International"), 'cause during the '90's there where 4 companyes that assambled tv sets: "N.E.I.", "Thomas" (the old tv manufacturerer, "Electronica" was splited betwen these 2 companies), "Hermes" and "Royal" (I think they asambled the "Freedom" tv sets too...). Around 1991 "Tehnoton" of Iaşi (Jassy) asaambled b & w tv sets.

The Japanese had one thing that put them on the front: they improved everything they copyed. Who inveted the audio cassette and the cassette deck and who ended up making the best of them?
Nowdays the Korean company "Samsung" does it...