This past weekend the HD Guru® surveyed managers of two regional CE chains on Long Island, NY. They spoke about very low sales and very light floor traffic, due to the Wall St. financial meltdown. One manager commented “this has been the slowest week since 9/11â€Â! In an attempt to keep moving inventory and counter consumers’ Fears, Uncertainties and Doubts (FUD) the HDTV makers are once again lowering the retail pricing on HDTVs and have increased the use of “instant rebatesâ€Â.
Sony, LG and Samsung reduced prices up to $200 on select models, while other set makers are using a subtler approach, quietly offering “instant rebates†to dealers. The manufacturers expect retailers to use the additional discount as a “sale price†reduction.
Here is a list of price reductions this week. Use this article as a guide. Remember, these are manufacturers’ suggested retails and not the far lower, heavily discounted prices you will find at the HD Guru’s Pricegrabber Shopping Banner Ad (on the lower left side of this page), or at your regional or nation consumer electronics retailer.
Sony LCD                Now          Was
KDL-46S4100B     $1499.99      $1599.99
KDL-46S4100S      $1499.99      $1599.99
KDL-40W4100     $1799.99      $1899.99
KDL-40Z4100/B     $2199.99      $2299.99
KDL-40Z4100/S     $2199.99     $2299.99
KDL-52V4100        $2299.99      $2499.99
KDL-46V4100        $1799.99      $1999.99
KDL-40V4000        $1399.99      $1499.99
LG LCD
47LG50                 $1699.99      $1799.99
52LG50                 $2299.99      $2499.99
52LG70                 $2599.99      $2799.99
32LG30                 $799.99        $849.99
Samsung Plasma
PN58A550               $3499.99      $3599.99
PN50A450               $1399.99      $1499.99
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I find it interesting that Olevia is going bankrupt, Sony is having huge financial problems but Vizio had profits last quarter. They must be doing something right….
Is there any experience with the WD series of Mitsubishi DLP HD TV’s? I have a 62 inch not quite 3 years old and has numerous problems. A repairman tells me “It is not worth fixing – disposable – sell it for parts!”
Any one else with similar problems?
There’s been a lot of finger pointing between Verizon Fios and Samsung and there sometimes incompatiblity. It seems as though lots of folks are dealing with the same kettle of fish. Sony’s name was mentioned in the dispute. I’ve decided to install a Clearstream antenna and probably purchase an HD to avoid the entire dispute and get the full HD signal as opposed to the compressed dish, cable, version. As far as programs; who needs 200 channels or a $3600 bill for three years of 200 channels, when only a fractionof them even interest me. Verizon blames Windows for other problems. It really is there problem, not mine.
Well, I am in the market for a Panasonic plasma and haven’t seen any price breaks yet, so I guess I will wait. Hope these guys start matching the lower prices soon!
TECHNOLOGY // Sep 24, 2008 at 2:29 pm
The upside of the financial meltdown: HDTV prices are falling
The value of your portfolio may be down, but at least the price of consumer electronics has fallen as well. The blog HD Guru reports that Sony, Samsung and LG have all cut prices by as much as $200 on…
Actually Circuit City already has a lot of these tv’s for cheaper than the prices that the guru has provided.
nOOb give me $50
Wow what a great deal 50 dollar rebate for a 32 inch? pfft.
Yes, I called Amazon and got $100.00 off my LN46a650 after receiving it.
First they refused then said OK. Shipped price 1599.00 now.