The plasma pricing precipice
Tags: HDTV, LCD, Plasma
Over at the AV Science Forum, there is a bunch of discussion about the possibility of 50-inch Plasma panels for under $3,000 in the coming months. With brand name pricing of 50" plasma panels now more in the $4,000 range, this may herald a real pricing discontinuity for plasma panels, probably in response to the huge volume of production coming online in the LCD world.
This sounds like good news, and it is for buyers. But for producers, this can be a dangerous game. The sub-$1,000 PC drove numerous PC manufacturers out of business because they just couldn't make enough money to keep them alive versus the likes of Dell. One might argue that plasma pricing may create a similar situation, except that the major manufacturers are Panasonic and LG.
This isn't a mass market product -- yet. But 50-inch plasmas aren't the most popular sizes, either. The most popular size of large screen flat panel is currently 42-inches. We already have a 42" Plasma on the market for $1,399. With the current price erosion in the market we could see sub-$1,000 42" plasmas in the market by Christmas of 2006. If that happens, watch out; retailers could have a VERY merry Christmas that year.
Over at the AV Science Forum, there is a bunch of discussion about the possibility of 50-inch Plasma panels for under $3,000 in the coming months. With brand name pricing of 50" plasma panels now more in the $4,000 range, this may herald a real pricing discontinuity for plasma panels, probably in response to the huge volume of production coming online in the LCD world.
This sounds like good news, and it is for buyers. But for producers, this can be a dangerous game. The sub-$1,000 PC drove numerous PC manufacturers out of business because they just couldn't make enough money to keep them alive versus the likes of Dell. One might argue that plasma pricing may create a similar situation, except that the major manufacturers are Panasonic and LG.
This isn't a mass market product -- yet. But 50-inch plasmas aren't the most popular sizes, either. The most popular size of large screen flat panel is currently 42-inches. We already have a 42" Plasma on the market for $1,399. With the current price erosion in the market we could see sub-$1,000 42" plasmas in the market by Christmas of 2006. If that happens, watch out; retailers could have a VERY merry Christmas that year.
posted by Carl Howe at
1:44 PM
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