Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Sony Says TV Prices Dropping Too Fast
Posted by Suhit Gupta in "NEWS" @ 09:00 AM
"Television prices are dropping faster than expected, and Sony's not too happy about it. Prices for liquid crystal display TVs should drop between 25 percent and 30 percent this year. That's between 5 and 7 percent more than Sony anticipated, Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics, said in a meeting with reporters in San Francisco last week. While this is good for consumers--and it would be hard to find a thrifty buyer sympathetic to Sony's concerns--the quick plunge in prices could hurt the industry as a whole because it could leave consumer electronics manufacturers financially weakened and less able to invest in future technologies, Glasgow argued. "LCDs will continue to experience heavy price erosion, but not at this level," he said. "It is hard to see that business model (of drastic price cuts) sustaining itself." While Glasgow's comments can be attributed in part to the natural disinclination of a manufacturer to cut prices, analysts agreed that the big drop in prices for LCD and plasma TVS has been surprising."
What sucks for Sony is great news for us. However, I am a bit afriad that Sony will reduce production quantities, thus artificially raise prices. Although, given how many other manufacturers there are, especially the more generic brands, I wonder if there is anything Sony can do about this.
What sucks for Sony is great news for us. However, I am a bit afriad that Sony will reduce production quantities, thus artificially raise prices. Although, given how many other manufacturers there are, especially the more generic brands, I wonder if there is anything Sony can do about this.
