Plasma TV sales not doing so good
By Matt Burns 
posted April 11th 2007 8:49AM
posted April 11th 2007 8:49AM
Ah, the plasma TV. Remember way back a few years ago, everyone used to hate on plasmas so much. Screen-burn this, fragile screen that - rubbish these days but back then, they had some truth. Looks like all the bad talk finally caught up to the technology though as they just aren't selling like it was 2006. Plasma TV sales dropped nearly 16 percent from last February to this year. That works out to be $35 million less generated by plasma TV sales. Its kind of obvious why isn't it. LCDs. They're perceived as a better, more reliable technology and in some cases, are cheaper. Plus, every must have 1080p these days and you can only get a 1080p plasma if it has a large price tag attached. Which screen would we get? Most around the Engadget office would ultimately opt for a plasma for the better picture but an LCD would be considered too.
I will blame the big-box retailers for this. The people buying lcd tvs over plasmas are the same people shelling out $75 for a name-brand 4' hdmi because the peeps at best buy, circuit city, etc. are telling them to. A little research will reveal that 1080p is (for the most part) a waste on a 42" tv and that plasma's are a much better bang for your buck in the 42"-50" range. BUT, the people shopping at the previously named retailers are listening to what the sales people are telling them. "1080p is better", "plasmas are bad because of burn-in", etc. etc. Not much to be done about this though, so no sense complaining. OLED tvs will be around sooner or later and then LCD's sales will start sliping as well.
I was in the market for a good quality (Sharp, Sony, Samsung) 32-37" LCD. Those TVs were between $1000 and $1400.
For $1199 I bought a Panasonic TH-42PX600U, a 42" plasma. It was an amazing purchase. 1080p is a complete gimmick on TVs this size.
I blame that they used to suck and people are having a hard time forgetting that. They are better now than they were thats for sure. Originally the only thing they had going for them was viewing angle and 'cool' factor. Resolutions were always way behind other technologies, lifespan was shorter (even now they are dead when they are done...no bulb can restore it), burn-in was a BIG issue, and the cost was WAY too high. Everyone I know that bought early versions regret it. The only thing they are happy with is it hangs on the wall.
They have come to the point now where I would consider buying one....but I'm not in the market. Too late plasma.
boulderhorn..are you arguing 1080p ISNT better? Nobody would need a sales person to tell them that...its quite obvious it is.
Sorry...I see you are saying in the 'range' its not as important. It also is of no importance and a complete waste if the person buying it wont be hooking up a PC or other 1080p source to it.
I love my 1080p LCD hooked up to my HD DVD. Wouldn't trade it for a plasma, sorry.
Seems the respondants know very little about either technology.
I waited until a month ago to purchase my Panny 50" 60U plasma and I'm very happy although the 75U is out now with 1080p.
I always get the best product at the best value. I purchased my Protron 32" LCD last year from Ubid.com for $650. Got it because I saw it side by side with a Sharp aquos and couldn't tell them apart. IMO you don't need top of the line name when buying LCD but with plasma you can't take any chances.
You can now get a panny 50" 75U at Dbuys.com for $1989 I believe with free shipping. The 60U's are only $1668 and dropping.
thanks for the spam!!!!
day_@hotmail.co.uk
The big box stores make more on the LCD's than the Plasmas these days because of the competition for plasma sets, so definitely they are pushing those and I see that as the reason why plasma is selling less. I still don't feel like LCD has the better picture at this point, but it's quickly catching up. A Pioneer Elite 1080P plasma still looks better IMO than the best Sony 1080P LCD. All the higher end brands (Runco, Vidikron, Fujitsu) only carry Plasma so that should tell you something right there.
"The big box stores make more on the LCD's than the Plasmas these days because of the competition for plasma sets, so definitely they are pushing those and I see that as the reason why plasma is selling less."
Simply not true. As an consumer electronics retailer I can tell you for a fact that the margin is bigger on plasmas than LCD's.
Ok I lied, some of those guys are making LCD's now, disregard that last comment.
does anyone at Engadget actually proof read their articles???
And for people that hate on LCDs: get real. Many people don't watch their tv in a dungeon, and don't sit 4' from the screen. LCDs have many advantages over plasma (and vice versa) regardless of everyone pushing 1080p B-S. Besides, why fork out a lot of money for fancier displays? Cable and Sat. HD still have consistent transmission problems and BluRay/HD DVD discs still are buggy. Save $3000, get a cheap HD display, and get a fancier one in a few years.
I work in an industry that uses lots of LCDs and Plasmas. For this reasons I would sooner set myself on fire than ever go near a plasma. Utter garbage.
I am still frustrated by the fact that plasma resolution has not caught up to LCD. The plasmas that are 1080p are often more expensive than getting a compariably priced LCD now. Before anyone gives me a hate mail reply, I will preface it by saying that I really prefer 1080p resolution as I use it with an HTPC.
If there was a viable 1080p plasma in each size category when they were launched (or soon after) then no one would need to investigate other alternatives such as LCDs.
I read the recent Panasonic release about their 42" 1080P plasma:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/10/panasonics-worlds-smallest-42-inch-1080p-plasma-now-in-produ/
However, this will not be available for probably several months in the US and, in my mind, is about 1 year too late.
Where did you find the 600U for only 1200?
Don't automatically equate lower revenues with "plasma market bad." Lower revenues are due to price compression in the market. The NPD survey said plasma unit sales actually increased. The issue for plasma makers is that sales of higher priced large screens didn't increase enough to offset the price declines at the low end of the market.
Why would 1080p be useless? Ever heard of HD-DVD? Blu-Ray? PS3?
boulderhorn, you are wrong. Some people, such as myself, bought the LCD because in the 42-inch market the ability of finding plasma for the same price could not get better than 1024x768 resolution.
Remember, it was difficult to make a plasma pixel small, and an LCD pixel larger. This is why those seeking high-resolution displays found it easier in smaller size with LCD. I doubt you are going to find a 60-63 inch LCD with 1366x768 resolution, just like you are not going to find a 32-37" plasma with the same resolution.
I would not say its the big box stores hurting plasma sales revenue, but rather that there are a lot of what Sony calls 'Vizios of the world' providing inexpensive competition. Why spend $3K on a plasma when you can get one for half the price? Of course that will drive down sales revenue, but the shear numbers of units will remain static.
And sure the LCD flat-panels will affect the number of plasma sales. Not everyone is into contrast performance and as a result LCD can easily be an applicable option with a much better price. But to equate an LCD buyer with one that will but an overpriced cable from the big box (e.g. Monster cable) is retarded, unproven, and missing other potential causes.
For instance, can you show us all one report where a plasma buyer shopping a big box store is less likely to buy an overpriced cable than an LCD buyer in the same store? I thought not.
Im sorry for that last post. Im not sure why, but my Gmail keeps screwing up and resending old posts once in a while.
I also work in the industry, i can't believe some of the crap people coming into my store are asking about plasma..."i heard that they need to be refilled"!!!!, "i heard they fade after 10000 hours"!!!..i hear that SAMSUNG makes the best TV's"!!! are you kidding me!!!
where are people getting this stuff??, i personally blame 2 things, 1- big box stores, the employees that work there know practically nothing about what they are selling and are more concerned with meeting monthly extended warranty sales quotas, rather than properly qualifying the customer.
2-Marketing, all the big lcd makers have been marketing Heavily in the passed year, specifically Samsung, who have reinvented themselves in the passed year, i dont care how "slick" their tv's look or how much they've spent on advertising, it's a subpar product back by even worse customer service plain and simple, yet they've managed to become the worlds largest flat panel manufacturer, how did thius happen?? the big plasma boys have been sitting idle, thats how!!, wake up Panasonic, pioneer..etc, get some ads out there!!!..inform people
Plasma technology in my opinion is FAR away superior to LCD in picture quality in every way, LCD's don't even come close..even todays best (sharp's 92 series) looks terrible next to even a mid priced plasma, never mind next to a panny or pioneer. i can't believe it when i read people writing that they think there lcd looks better than a plasma??,
It's not that people think they look better.. It's that an LCD or DLP has much more flexibility than a plasma does... You don't have to worry about burn, you can get 1:1 pixel maps, etc. Today, when I spend a couple of thousand or more on a set, I want something that I can throw anything @ and not worry about it. Sure, plasma has the best PQ of them all, but you sacrifice some important things to get it.
Seems like a lot of people are confused here. Just want to throw my 2cs in. I purchased a 55in. Fujitsu Plasma in May 04. Use it almost everday. Even after over 3 years of watching a true HD picture (Directv) Iam just amazed. Even my local news Channel 9 in Orlando is broadcasted in HD, just amazing. Special effects from HD DVD's are just incredible. Never had a problem whatsoever. Yes, it was pricey back then but still tickles me today.