Early TV production figures for '46-'51

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by benman94

....The vast majority of the RCA 621 and 630s would have been from '47.

It's very hard to figure what RCA was doing with their TV's in those early postwar years. If many of the '46 sets were produced in '47, then it would've overlapped the new '47 models like the 721 which would've been the better choice than the 621 with it's larger 10" CRT, and a cheaper and more compact choice than the 630! Even more, after the relatively compact 721 with a refined chassis that was just as good as the 630 (some say even better), RCA went back to the large 630 styled 8TS30 in '48!

[madRad45]

Stumbled on an article titled “Receiver Production Hits Alltime High” on page 34 of "Broadscasting" magazine from 27-Jan-1947. Here's the link:

http://americanradiohistory.com/Arch...7-01-27-BC.pdf

Article calls out TV production for RMA Members for 1946 as:

“Output of television sets in 1946 totaled 6,746 units, of which 3,561 were shipped in December. The total video production for the year comprised 5,070 table models, 1,344 direct-viewing radio-television consoles, 10 projection consoles, 51 radio-phonograph combination projection consoles, 1 direct-viewing radio-phonograph console.”

A little later in article it says, with regard to radio, and I assume TV as well:

“RMA member production is estimated at about 90% of the industry total.”

This would put industry total around 7,500 sets, which seems to support the previous article. Also, over half the 1946 TVs produced shipped in December, so it seems they did get a late start on the '46 models.