Henry Waxman (D-CA) and his House Energy and Commerce Committee are polling numerous consumer electronics manufacturers and retail outlets to find out whether or not there will be an adequate supply of digital-to-analog converter boxes available as the television transition closes in on DTV-Day.
The letter to retailers, from Waxman and key subcommittee chair Rick Boucher (D-VA) asks retailers how many boxes are in stock, how many are on order, and how many more it anticpates ordering between now and 10/31/09, among other things. The legislators want to know if each company is confident it will have enough inventory to meet demand.
The letter to manufacturers is basically the mirror image of the retailers letter, with the legislators wanting to know if the manufacturers will be able to keep consumer outlets supplied.
Letters were sent to Alco Electronics, Amazon, Apex Digital, Best Buy, the Consumer Electronics Association, CVS, Digital Stream Technology, Dish Network, General Electric, LG Electronics, Memorex, Philips, RadioShack, Rite Aid, Sears, Sylvania, Target, and Wal-Mart.
RBR/TVBR observation: At this late date, our question would be just what anybody could do about it if the answers came back to the effect that neither group is prepared for demand.
