British Columbia’s Burnaby NewsLeader spoke to TV repair technicians who say the advent of cheaper flat-panel TVs is reducing the demand for their skills.
Raymond Manoukian, the general manager of Spectrum Electronics in Burnaby, remembers when there were three or four similar shops in his KIngsway-Imperial neighbourhood alone. Now the owners have moved on to retirement, or just work from the basement of their homes because they can’t afford to maintain a store front.
They’re not alone.
In the U.S., there are about 15,000 fewer TV repair technicians currently registered with the National Electronics Service Dealers Association than in the 1980s.
They’re the collateral damage of an industry that is changing at an ever-quickening pace. TVs are getting bigger, flatter and more sophisticated. They’re also getting cheaper. So much so, today’s flat screen has become an almost disposable commodity, says Manoukian.
The advent of newer technology is also making it harder for TV repair technicians to keep their skills sharp. Cathode-ray tube TVs didn’t change much over the years and TV repair skills stayed pretty constant. Even as CRT TVs began using more sophisticated circuitry the basic repair skills remained pretty much the same. That’s not the case with modern LCD and Plasma TVs that are constantly changing in form and technology. And the next generation of LED and OLED screens will continue to challenge local repair shops. And it’s not like the TV manufacturers even have TV repair shops in mind when producing their products.
“As manufacturers look to cut costs and increase efficiency, they’re making electronics more difficult to service, says Manoukian.”
Read the full story here.