HDTV prices drop for Super Bowl; Q1 sales still slump
By Colleen Taylor -- EDN, February 2, 2007
Gearing up for this weekend's Super Bowl Sunday, prices are falling and availability is rising for high-definition televisions (HDTV), but that won't necessarily pull Q1 out of its traditional TV sales slump, according to iSuppli Corp.
"This year, flat-panel and rear-projection HDTVs are cheaper and more available than ever before, making them more alluring to consumers," Riddhi Patel, principal analyst of television systems for iSuppli, said in a statement.
Noted iSuppli, the Super Bowl long has served as a sales driver for televisions and with prices for new technologies like LCD and plasma, and rear-projection varieties like digital light processing (DLP), liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) and 3LCD all declining rapidly, consumers have wider choice of TVs for this year's game.
TV retailers are announcing Super Bowl specials, offering incentives in terms of price breaks, free surround sound systems, financing schemes and reduced-price or free installation packages, the firm said. iSuppli also noted that in some cases, Super Bowl specials involve price cuts of as much as 50 percent from December prices.
Some of the key consumer price points compiled by iSuppli for Super Bowl XLI this month are 56-inch full HD DLP televisions priced at less than $2,000, compared to $2,360 in December; 50-inch plasma for as little as $2,500, after rebate, compared to $2,900 in December; 50-inch HD DLP for less than $1,250, compared to $1,690 in December; 42-inch HD plasma for less than $1,000, compared to $1,800 in December; 42-inch Full HD LCD for less than $1,500, compared to $2,200 in December; 40-inch HD LCD for less than $1,500, compared to $1,895 in December; and 32-inch LCD for less than $600, compared to $1,190 in December.
However, even with the major Super Bowl push, Q1 will likely still prove weak for the industry. Television sales and shipments typically decline in Q1 following the Q4 holiday season, the firm noted. This year will be no exception, iSuppli said, with North American television shipments in Q1 expected to fall to 7.1 million units, down 26.3 percent from 9.7 million units in the Q4.
