In a few days the price of flat panel TVs will drop considerably. Why? Because Sony wants to regain its number one market share, so its drastically dropping the prices of its first new 2008 1080p flat panel models in order to pick up more sales volume.
Want more good news? According to a well-placed industry sources, you can expect Sony’s major competitors (LG, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba) to react by dropping their respective prices too (in May).
Here is an example. Sony’s latest 40” 1080p (1920×1080) HDTV the KDL-40S4100 will have a (suggested minimum price) of just $1199 making a full $500 less than its lowest priced predecessor.
How about a 46” 1080p set? The new KDL-46S4100 will be priced at $1599 (representing a $400 drop). This is Sony’s “advertised price”. The big box retailers Circuit City and Best Buy have been dropping below this minimum advertised price (MAP) 10% or more, only a week or two after other 2008 HDTVs have debuted, so don’t be surprised to see these Sony prices cut quickly by the big box retailers.
What about Plasma? This price marks the first time a 1080p LCD is priced below 1080p plasma. The HD Guru™ expects a lockstep reaction by the big plasma vendors with 2008 product now available or coming to market in May (Panasonic, LG and Samsung).
Likewise 2nd and 3rd tier vendors (i.e. Visio, Westinghouse) will have to react too, but probably don’t have as much room to move as Sony does because the “off brands” source all their products from outside panel makers and assembly plants.
Copyright ©2008 Gary Merson/HD Guru™. All rights reserved. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.
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MSN said the price would increase because China would raise the prices due to rising mfg costs from trying to offer better benefits and wages to factory workers. I guess communist countries can raise the price of mfg a product across the board just because they feel like it. Maybe they forgot why the companies went there in the first place.
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On that 30 day deal with bb, they only give you two weeks now, I bought a washer and dryer from them a while back and they droped the price $30.00 and I went to get it and they wouldn’t give it to me, I called the mang. and he said they had changed that to 14 day’s, as far as I know that is on everthing, you best check, all the other stores are still 30 days as far as I know.
Are you guys blind?
Compare a plasma and LCD side by side and the superiority of the plasma, in most cases, is very evident. Put both on a SD station (most people fail to realize that this is the format a majority of networks still broadcast a majority of their programming in) and the Plasma blows the LCD out of the water.
So in reference to the question that brought me to this site and a link someone posted from msn money, how do you think the switch to digital in the upcoming year is gonna effect the price?
MSN said the price would increase because China would raise the prices due to rising mfg costs from trying to offer better benefits and wages to factory workers. I guess communist countries can raise the price of mfg a product across the board just because they feel like it. Maybe they forgot why the companies went there in the first place.
On the contrary, the first thing that my high school economics class taught me is that as demand increases, supply increase, and price decreases.
This came out a day after I purchased a 50″ plasma and got me a little worried. I thought I might need to exercise the “price protection” option, but the price on my set is up more than $200 over the sale price I paid.
Any insight into the price cuts you had estimated for May? Are we looking at this month maybe or July?
No cuts. Is this stuff just made up? Where does this information come from in the first place? I can’t find any references to any upcoming cuts.
i see no price cuts also…
Can you provide source for that? The sears website has that one for 1399.
no price cuts? sears has a 40″ samsung 1080p for 999 that isnt a cut? if you want a free tv it aint gonna happen. this article was right on thanks hd guru
May is almost over. No price cuts. Lame.
Just need some clarification since I’ve read conflicting statements… is the the Sony KDL-40S4100 a 10bit or 8bit processor? Doesn’t really say on the Sony sight. I’ve seen the picture on this set and it looks great, and the price is right. Does it matter?
When did interest in plasma start dropping?
According to the real numbers, plasma sales in Q1/08 were up 53% over plasma sales in Q1/07
Samsung and LG saw an increase in Q1/08 of over 300% over their 2006 totals as a whole, taking 1st and 2nd place in the plasma market ahead of Panasonic, whose new -8 series will no doubt put them back in first for Q2/08.
Globally LCD sales are over 7:1 ahead of plasma, but with sizes under 20″ that’s not too bloody surprising.
DLP sales are well below plasma and in terms of picture quality it’s no contest, plasma is ahead of LED, LCD, SXRD, DLP, all the above comfortably.
Where cost is concerned a 1080p 50″ plasma is cheaper than a 50″ LCD.
People sure can talk a lot of crap.
what ED said isn’t true from what I see… the Samsung PN50A650 plasma model I want (yes, changed my mind) is $800 cheaper in the US (amazon.com) compared to BB or futureshop here.
Even the best deal I could find from independent store is still $500 more than the US price. Apparantly, it’s because of the “localization cost” according to the salesperson. Consider yourself lucky if you live in the US.
Don’t know why I said Sears twice…
David, where can I find a commissioned environment? I live in a northern suburb of Chicago and all we have around us are the BB, CC, Sears, Sam’s Club, and Sears. I don’t think we really have any small independent sales shops around.
Have you ever heard of the Sharp Aquos LC-65d93upk? The sellers claim its an upgrade of the regular 65d93u. I contacted Sharp and they have never heard of the item.
My old Sony Trinitron just kicked the bucket today. I’ve been watching the pricing on Sony’s all month, but have yet to see them go up or down more than $200. *crossing fingers*, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.
Ronak, I am in sales at a commission environment. If you are looking at purchasing a tv, most commissioned environments are more willing to negotiate a deal to close you that day. I used to work at big box retailers in a non-commission sales structure and they have less incentive as salespeople to get you to buy. Whereas a commissioned sales person will usually be willing to work you a deal to get a faster sale. Best advice – don’t shop in big box retailers for the best deals…
Hey Ed, just how do you go about negotiating prices with retailers?? I’m kind of shy and soft spoken so I can never get the guts to bargain properly. I’d love to know how to negotiate prices down from the big box retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City.
IT does not matter if you live in CANADA or the USA.The discounts are all the same if not better in CANADA.The main fact remains .Never pay retail when the retailers like futureshop,visions will negotiate the price.I never pay more than 5-10% above coast.
I’ve just noticed a $200 drop from yesterday (2499 to 2299) on the 50″ 1080p Samsung plasma from Best Buy, think I’ll go for this one.
Too bad I live in Canada so have no choice to buy from other much cheaper outlets like Amazon.com
Im thinking of purchasing a 1080p 60″-65″ tv. Plasma or LCD? Im looking to spend between 3000 and 5000. Any suggestions?
This is crazy. Now MSN money is predicting possible price increases:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/ConsumerActionGuide/FourReasonsToBuyAHighDefTVNow.aspx
HD Guru – can you comment on this article which seems to contradict your prediction.
I have a question on hooking up my plasma to the cable box. We have a Panasonic 50″ 1080i Most of what we watch is cable broadcast in digtial not HD. We typically watch in full screen-justified . The cable box has IEEE, DVI, component as well composite.. The TV has HDMI, DVI, IEEE, composite ,component, S-Video. The cable company hooked up the system in component video and composite audio. Given how I going to use the TV is is worth changing the cabling ?
For all of you who are expecting hdguru to know EXACTLY when the price will be dropping, or showing frustration as to why the price hasn’t dropped yet, you are hereby informed that I have gazed into the crystal ball and it tells me that price will be dropping at exactly 12:39pm EST on May 23rd. Now, I hope you feel better because the long wait that you have had to endure thus far will soon come to an end.
I am looking to buy a 52″ LCD TV very soon. When will these prices (MSRP) of brands like Toshiba change?
I haven’t noticed any change at BestBuy or Futureshop yet.
Do you know if the current 2008 models (KDL-40V4100 or KDL-40W4100) will also receive a price drop? I am looking at Sony and Samsung models (LN40A550, LN40A650). Should I wait until closer to a Father’s Day sale or do you think the upcoming Memorial Day weekend sales will reflect any price drops.
The wait is killing me (I am still using a SDTV 27″)….
The models and prices listed in the article are in fact the pricing for those TVs on the website. However, they’re not even available and none of the other prices have gone down with them
That is great news ed. I however, am waiting for the midrange priced models to get discounted more heavily though.