Monday, July 6, 2009

Mitsubishi Drops Price (And Ball) On LaserVue HDTV’s


I remember how excited I was when I first got wind of Mitsubishi’s revolutionary new HDTV called LaserVue. It was introduced a year or so back at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and It was the biggest buzz product at the event. A Laser TV that offered twice the color and picture, at a third of the price of the top of the line plasma and LCD sets. It sounded like Mitsubishi was going to turn the HDTV market on its ear with this new set……….

And then somebody got greedy!!!

Mitsubishi had stated at the Consumer Electronics Show that the cost of making these sets rivaled what DLP sets cost to make. So instead of making these sets very affordable along with one of the best pictures offered, Mitsubishi priced the 65-inch set starting at nearly $7000. A far cry from the $2000 price tag that was briefly talked about, and quite a bit of money for a new (unproven) technology. Well Mitsubishi has heard your cries and has dropped the price a whole $500 to entice you to max out the credit card. Now granted I don’t know the exact manufacturing cost of these new Laser TV sets, but when they were introduced Mitsubishi said that the technology was based similar to the DLP sets. Mitsubishi also stated that the cost would be similar to the DLP sets that are available now…… So what happened?

Visio doesn’t make the best HDTV sets out there but what makes them a player in the HDTV world is their pricing. Your average Joe doesn’t have 6 or 7 grand to spend on a HDTV, so they go with the cheap set with an average picture. The missed opportunity that Mitsubishi had was to offer one of the best pictures HDTV sets out there at a very reasonable price (i.e. $2000), and a chance at owning the average Joe market. They could have been THE major player in the HDTV world……. But as usual, greed always seems to win.

[Crunchgear]

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Forgive me for being a wee bit confused. Are you saying there is a damn good HDTV on the market for $500? Is it 1080P? What's the size?

Nelson said...

No Fred,

They dropped the price $500. So the new price is $6500 instead of $7000.

Anonymous said...

Oh, damn... Now I see why you were so excited... That does suck!!!

With all the different technologies, which do you think currently has the best sweet-spot between price vs. functionality?

Nelson said...

Samsung makes great LCD's at a really good price. The picture is great for the price. The LED sets are a little pricy right now, but if you can afford it... Go for it!!!

Anonymous said...

Well, as a poor guy, about the only thing I might be able to afford in a couple months would be something small in the 720p range. I've looked at sets in different stores, and I agree that Samsung's TVs rock!

Someday I hope prices for the necessary technology for today's tv's falls to a more reasonable price.

Malcolm said...

Here's the cheapest 1080P LCD I've found so far. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10913073&sourceid=02729398612609139581