High Def, Low Cost: HDTV Prices Plunge

TELEVISIONS
High Def, Low Cost:
HDTV Prices Plunge
FIERCE COMPETITION AND A SUPPLY BOOM
SEND COSTS TUMBLING FOR LCD, PLASMA TVs.
of HDTV
shoppers know that prices fall
each year, but price cuts over
the past 12 months have finally brought large LCD and plasma models within reach for
mainstream shoppers as the
holiday-buying season gets
into full swing.
Prices for LCD TVs have declined in part because of heavy
competition from such budget
brands as Syntax and Westinghouse, says Riddhi Patel,
senior analyst for market research company iSuppli. In
addition, LCD panel manufacturers are able to turn out
more screens per day. David
Naranjo, vice president at
research firm DisplaySearch,
says that new factories can
output glass sheets large
enough to make eight 32-inch
panels, c o ~ p a r e dwith.t
THE MOST CASUAL
1
.
three-panel sheets previousgeneration facilities produced.
This combination of efficiency and competition has
;e
roughly halved the avl
street prices of 32-inch L L ~ S
in the past year, according to
DisplaySearch. Still, prices
continue to vary a good deal
between brand-nameand budget offerings. For example,
U.S. market leader Sharp's
LC-32GA5U model has a
street price of about $1700,
while the Olevia LT32HVE
from relative newcomer Syntax goes for about $1100.
800D STARTERS
3 2 - I N C Hmodels
make good HD starter sets for
U.S. customers, Naranjo says,
because images on theirwide,
16:9-aspect-ratioscreens are
ghly-the
,* . - same 4 e i
THESE
&
*
&
ANELS DROP THE MOST;
the past year; ';
jiqital rear-projection price declines are now predicted to flatten. -.
.CD AND PLASMA PRICES HAVE fallen furthest in
s! $1000
-.---
digital rear-projectionTV (DLP,
*
LCD, LCOS)]
$500
SO
'.
. .
, ',.,s;
. ' i i
>;:
24
'Projected.
SOURCE: DISPLAYSEARCH
~
WWU.PCWORLD.COU
/ JANUARY
2006
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,
PRICE TAG: Syntax's 32-inch Olevia
LT32HVE LCD TV has
eet price of approximately $1100.
those on a conventional 27inch, 4:3-aspect-ratio CRTtoday's most popular TV type.
As usual, shoppers willing
to wait longer will likely save
even more money. However,
DisplaySearchpredicts a more
modest 38 percent price drop
for 32-inch LCD TVs in 2006.
While LCD vendors are upping production of 40-inchplus panels, plasma displays
remain far better deals in that
size range, with average prices
of 42-inch high-definition
panels falling by about 35 percent in 2005, DisplaySearch
reports. Some price cuts have
been greater: In 2004 Panasonic's TH-42PX25 listed at
$6000; its current successor,
the TH-42PX50, has a list
price of $3000. In comparison, LG's 42-inch LCD, the
42LPlD, sells for $4800.
As with LCDs, efficiency
gains have contributed to
falling plasma prices. Panasonic's newest plasma-glass
factory produces six 42-inch
panels per sheet, compared
with two panels per sheet at
the previous-generation facility. Discount brands such as
Akai, Maxx, and Norcent have
not pushed prices down as
much as their LCD counterparts have. but they're starting
to. "I think they are getting
more attention now that value
brands in LCD have caught
on," says isuppli's Patel.
PLASMA CLOSES IM
MEANWHILE,
prices for digital rear-projection sets-DLP,
LCD, and LCoS (liquid crystal
on silicon) models-haven't
dropped as much as prices for
flat panels. For example, 50inch digital rear-projection
sets have dropped just 27 percent over the last year. As a
result, plasma sets are starting
to attract people who in years
past might have opted for a
rear projection model.
LG Electronics spokesperson John Taylor says that the
company is focusing its rearprojection efforts on 50-inch
or larger sets. But even here,
rear projection is no longer
markedly less expensive than
plasma. For example, Panasonic's 56-inch DLP model,
the PT-56DLX75, lists for
$3300, while its 50-inch TH50PX50 plasma set sells for
just $700 more. In contrast,
Panasonic's 50-inch DLP set,
the PT-50DLD64, last year
sold for $400&half the list
price of the company's 50inch TH-50PX25plasma set.
-Sebn Captain