Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: recession, hdtv, lcd, vizio, sales | Themes: Home Theater, Display Panels and Monitors, Business
In these times of recession, consumers must be more careful about their spending. Certain luxury items will have to be put aside for a while until better times. But what about that new LCD HDTV? No, no, a new TV is a necessity!
At least that’s what the message is from North American TV sales data. According to iSuppli’s research data, LCD TVs are a “must have” item for the North American buyer.
iSuppli reported that North American LCD TV shipments in the first quarter 2009 amounted to 6.3 million units. Although this number shows a decline from the previous quarter, with 8.1 million units, that was with the holiday season making the drop follow the normal seasonal pattern of shipments peaking in the fourth-quarter and falling to the low point of the year in the first quarter.
Compared to a year earlier, however, the first quarter 2009 numbers are up 10.5 percent against the first quarter of 2008, perhaps showing that consumers will continue to buy TVs regardless of the economic climate.
Of course, the recession itself could be helping the TV sales along. With electronics companies and retailers trying to maintain strong sales numbers, incentives to buy that are normally reserved just for the holiday season may be carried over into the new year.
"With LCD-TV sellers in the first quarter maintaining their promotions from the holiday season, and with prices declining, television sales managed to grow compared to the same period a year earlier," said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems, for iSuppli.
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Well at least buying a HDTV sounds smarter than giving a bail out to the fat cats on Wall Street.
Lounging around watching the tube will actually pay for itself over time.
I paid around 1200 for our 42" Samsung.
Going to the movies with my Girlfriend + 1 Soda + 1 Popcorn ends up being around $900 dollars anyway.
Of course if you're already home-bound (laid off) you might as well make this an HD experience. ;-)
How else is people going to watch Barack Obama on TV?
Going to the movies with my Girlfriend + 1 Soda + 1 Popcorn ends up being around $900 dollars anyway.
Tru dat!
Maybe it's because the "recession" had no effect on most people, aside from rethinking their spending habits. Even this, I would attribute to the media using catchphrases such as "In this economy..."
I don't know about a necessity but it sure is nice. I'm still glad that I didn't have to buy one. I found a broken TV that is an older model of this http://www.walmart.com/catalog/pro [...] id=3757031 and I got it working by buying a $40 part and replacing it... lol
Though HDTVs do cost A LOT less than they used to. It is actually hard to find a TV that isn't HDTV nowadays I think unless you're going for a used TV. I remember being able to buy a 19" CRT for like $50-100. A TV of the same size is now $150+, but it's HDTV...
Perhaps people think they need to get an HDTV to weather the coming DTV transition!
I bought my HDTV (last year) without that in mind, but it's good to know I don't need a converter box. Just, apparently, a stronger antenna to pick up some of the new stations and their weak signals...
considering that for nearly 1000 bucks you can get something in the 42" neighborhood i think is an excellent time to buy.
1000 bucks for 42"??
We bought a 46" 1080P Spectre HD LCD TV in November last year for $699.
$1000 for 42" sounds like a ripoff to me.
And don't give me that Samsung is better than Spectre crap. In the end the quality is close enough to justify the mark down.
I'd happily sell my HD LCD if it was mine.
I'd sell it and buy a better monitor, or a third one for a tri-display.
I don't care about inches, I care about pixel count.
We have to get our priorities straight here.
from aserious perspective, you avhe to consider the fact that technology will progress DESPITE any economic situations.eventually all tv signlas will be HD only many peopelare aware of this fact hince they are willing to buy a new tv now instead of waiting for thier oldtv';s topbecome useless. in this regard hdtvs are becoming like comptuer tech to the gamer crowd .. you would rather update SOONER than later. I actually think this is good for the recession as long as soemthign is sellign money is moving and that is what keeps the economy for a compelte colapse. what i find odd .. is how badly teh food industry as a whole is suffering .. you';d think food industries would enver suffer after all food is a demand item for life .
considering that for nearly 1000 bucks you can get something in the 42" neighborhood i think is an excellent time to buy.
are you freaking kidding me .. wal mart and target both have 42' lcd's (at 720p) that are 630 US dollars this is WELL under 1000 bucks, and some times they put these on deals that bring it down to 550. for about 700-800 you can get a 42 that does full 1080p
personally i'll aim for the 630 at 720p whileteh diferece from standard def to 720 p is drastic as hell , the differnce from 720 to 1080 does equal 150+ more dollars to me so i'llgo for teh sweet spot 42 at 720
hmm update/correction
here we go a 42' olevia
it does 480i, 480p,720p,1080i
it is a steal at just $ 598
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/pro [...] d=10993793
1000 bucks for 42"??We bought a 46" 1080P Spectre HD LCD TV in November last year for $699.$1000 for 42" sounds like a ripoff to me.And don't give me that Samsung is better than Spectre crap. In the end the quality is close enough to justify the mark down.
Are you happy with that Sceptre? I bought it when it was $799, I ended up returning it because of a dead pixel and because an "all black" screen was more like a bright grey. I ended up getting a 42" LG Scarlett 120Hz for $1099 and the picture is easily twice as good as the Sceptre I returned.
This is why I keep out of the TV wars and stick with a 36 inch HDTV CRT
The Sceptre is fine for our needs. Movies look good enough. There are no dead pixels. Plus we got an extended 4 year warranty so we can return it if this happens. Even with the warranty it came to $1000 for a 46" 1080P.
Saying the picture quality is twice as good has no meaning because its not an absolute value. $200 is 2x as good as $100 but one 42" 1080p model can't be 2x as good as another 46" 1080p model.
I wonder how much of the surge in HDTV sales is partly cause its advertised every 5 seconds that people need a digital TV or they can't watch anything after the switchover to digital broadcasting. Just think of all those non-tech savy people thinking they have to buy a new TV cause they don't know any better and are interpreting the commercials wrong. Plus people are starting to see their friends getting HDTV's and realizing how much better 720p/1080i is to analog 480i in clarity. And what does America love more than TV? Not much seemingly....
The fact that a lot of people go out and drop $500-1000+ on a TV when they have no money should be no surprise to anybody who's been watching the news at any time in the last year. A lot of people have their priorities seriously screwed up as they are gladly paying hundreds of dollars per month for cable/satellite TV service and other entertainment but default on their mortgage, and don't pay their utility or medical bills. The real travesty is that those irresponsible individuals want the rest of us that DO manage our money correctly (often by forgoing a lot of non-critical expenditures, like buying an HDTV) to "bail them out" with our money in one manner or another.