Best Buy exec: Flat panel price drops are A-OK
As research reports and analysts continue to predict a sharp case of oversupply that will lead the plasma and LCD HDTV markets to drop sharply in price as manufacturers battle, Best Buy apparently doesn't see that as a problem (as consumers waiting to buy cheap flat-panels neither do we). Citing the much higher average price of the new TVs versus the screens they have been selling for the last several years, as well as their expectation that sales will accelerate as prices drop, the only problem Best Buy seems to have is getting enough in stock to sell. Apparently the World Cup created an American shortage as manufacturers shifted panels to eager European buyers.
Enough talk about the coming flat-panel price crash, wake me when it happens. I've got a 42-inch widescreen spot on the wall just gathering dust. If prices don't drop soon I'll just have to...buy one at the current prices. In the face of that sort of threat, it is impossible to see how the industry can continue to hold out.
