After 15 years of production, Zenith Electronics Corp. will
stop making analog set-tops, opting instead to focus its efforts on digital products.
Cable customers for Zenith's Z-TAC, MM2500 and PM, PA
and PZ series set-tops were alerted about the discontinued line last week in a letter from
Bill Luehrs, president of Zenith's Network Systems Division.
In the letter, Luehrs said Zenith will stop making the
analog line in the second quarter. 'We've decided to concentrate all of our
interests in making the transition' to digital.
He declined to say how many analog set-tops Zenith shipped
last year, but he added that customers contacted about the changes 'reacted with
understanding twinged with disappointment.'
Zenith's digital plans are well underway: It is the
lead manufacturer for the Americast telco/The Walt Disney Co. consortium, and it has an
agreement with News Corp. for the so-called World Box, announced last fall.
'And obviously, we've also been watching
what's going on in this whole OpenCable area,' Luehrs said.
He wouldn't discuss specific plans to rally as a
second industry source to lead supplier NextLevel Systems Inc. (soon to become General
Instrument Corp.), except to say, 'We're obviously interested in having a
compatible product.'
