28.05.10
LCD displays get cheaper
The price of LCD TVs plummeted in 2009 due to an oversupply at the end of 2008 and into 2009, according to DisplaySearch.
According to DisplaySearch’s “Quarterly TV Cost and Price Forecast Model & Report”, 2009 LCD TV average selling prices fell twice as fast as they did in 2008.
The overall blended ASP for LCD TVs fell 24 per cent year on year and 21 per cent for PDP TVs in 2009.
Unit demand for flat panel TVs in 2009 was much better than expected at the beginning of the, mainly due to price erosion. During the first half of the year, it was easier for brands to cut prices, as LCD TV panel prices had plummeted at the end of 2008 and into 2009, affecting products sold in the first two quarters of 2009. However, the situation reversed itself in the second half.
“Because the rate of ASP decline was slower at retail during the first half of 2009 than the pace of panel price declines, manufacturers and retailers were able to boost margins from the low levels in Q4’08,” noted Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV Market Research at DisplaySearch.
“However, during the second half of the year, panel prices increased, peaking in September, and stayed fairly elevated in Q4’09 during what is normally a weak period seasonally. As a result, TV manufacturers and retailers gave back the margins gained early in the year to ensure that retail pricing didn’t stagnate, or even rise, which could have been disastrous to demand.”