Cheapest Lcd Tv

In the past, companies have insisted that LCD and plasma are capable of existing side by side--with plasma covering the larger screen sizes and LCD proving more viable for the smaller screens. Now, however, Sharp has launched a 30in LCD screen, and at this size it competes directly with the 32in plasma displays--a product aimed squarely at home cinema use.

Meanwhile, at the 2002 ER Show, Samsung was demonstrating a 60in LCD screen, proving that this technology is capable of cutting it in the larger screen sizes. With the likes of Philips moving into LCD television later this year, it seems clear that the product is moving away from the study and pitching up in the living room, hogging the remote control and making themselves a part of our lives for the next couple of decades.

"LCD is the biggest thing to happen to television since the advent of colour broadcasting," states Matt Newsome, Sharp LCD TV product marketing manager. Sharp has been heavily into developing LCD technology for a long time, and the company has made no secret of its intention to phase out CRT in favour of this slimmer technology.

"The LCD market was effectively non-existent until a few years ago," continues Mr Newsome. "Although it's still really at the early adopter stage, the potential for significant growth is obvious."

This fact has not escaped Dau-Khoi Nguyen, marketing manager for flat TV and digital TV for Philips CE Europe.

"During 2001, in the UK, GfK figures indicate a market of around 8,000 units with a value of around 9 million [pounds sterling] at retail prices. We observe an extremely fast growth trend, currently above 50%. Thus in 2002 we estimate that this market could comprise at least 12,000 units with a value of 13 million [pounds sterling] at retail."

Not only is it a fast growing market, it is also one consisting of products with high ticket prices. As such, few retailers can afford to miss out on what is undoubtedly one of the most desirable products to be strutting its stuff on the CE scene. Philips's Mr Nguyen explains how this came to be.

"Let's start from the consumer's requirements when buying a new TV. Over the past five years, we have seen clear trends towards the purchase of bigger screen sizes and the widescreen format. Consumers now demand much higher picture quality and superb industrial design. People aspire to slim TV sets (150mm depth or less), which can be hung on the wall like a window or a picture frame.

"Since 2000, LCD-TFT (thin film transistor) technology has matured sufficiently to fulfil the need for a slim TV, with good resolution and picture quality on moving video, at prices that are now within reach of more consumers."

Indeed, while LCD may now offer a viable medium with which to watch Harry Potter, this was not always the case. In the past, LCD had problems with colour reproduction, true blacks and dead cells. Such teething problems can blight any new technology, and it is a measure of their success as to whether or not they can slay such demons. The feeling from the manufacturers is very much that LCD has done this.

Sharp's Mr Newsome explains: "Issues with first generation panels, such as colour reproduction and dead pixels, have largely been overcome," he states. "And now they can be very favourably compared to their CRT counterparts."

This view is shared by Philips's Mr Nguyen, who feels that LCD panels may yet reach even greater plains of technical aptitude.

"They have laid their demons to rest, but there is always room for improvement. When any new technology is introduced, there are benefits and there are drawbacks. Over time, as engineers, we enhance the benefits and ameliorate the drawbacks. We sincerely believe LCD now offers a very good picture quality on moving pictures."

In the Samsung camp, the feeling is that LCD >24 will become the standard television technology within the next 10 years. Furthermore, Samsung product manager Mark Neave feels that is has the potential to topple plasma when it comes to dominating the larger screen sizes.

"With the 60in screen, the border has been crossed and we will definitely see LCD moving into the larger screen sizes."

The question is, of course, whether LCD will win out as the flat-panel technology of choice for the living rooms of the world. It does have certain advantages over plasma, with manufacturers such as Sharp claiming that LCD screens have a longer life span, while the panels themselves are undoubtedly lighter.

Such a feature is a real selling point for LCD, as the whole hang-on-the-wall aspect is one of the most appealing features of flat-screen technologies. The question is, whether or not the people wandering into your shop with 3,000 [pounds sterling] burning a hole in their pocket and a spare wall bracket understand the difference.

"There is very little being done to educate consumers on the differences between LCD and plasma," states Samsung's Mr Neave. "In this respect plasma has the advantage. Essentially it comes down to the retailers and manufacturers to educate consumers as to the differences between the two products, and find out which one is best suited to their needs."

The view that perhaps awareness of the specific advantages of LCD panels are not getting through to consumers is shared by Sharp's Mr Newsome.

"LCD TVs are thin, space saving, look great and will soon be available in much wider screen sizes than the other main flat-panel technology, plasma. They're also extremely energy-efficient and as such fit in perfectly with the growing awareness of the need for energy conservation."

Unfortunately however, he feels that these are concepts that have yet to be grasped by the consumer.

"I don't think consumers are fully aware of the benefits of LCD as opposed to plasma," he says. "As far as many are concerned, a fiat-panel TV is a flat-panel TV. In this climate, LCD and plasma manufacturers can benefit from awareness of each other's products, growing the market as a whole. But we are confident that as the market matures, consumers will appreciate the differences, and we're positioning Sharp as the best quality LCD brand under the Aquos name."

"Are most consumers interested in the technology?" asks Philips's Mr Nguyen. "Apart from the hard-core enthusiasts, we believe the majority of potential purchasers are more interested to know what the TV can do, not how it's done. The key message is that for a certain price you can now get a flat, slim, wide TV set with good picture quality in an elegant design.

"As far as retailers are concerned, it is vital to focus on the benefits, not the technologies. The FlatTV concept will continue, enhanced by the latest display technologies, but the technologies themselves will evolve and change."

This is not to say, however, that the manufacturers involved do not have a few plans regarding the specific promotion of LCD. Sharp's Mr Newsome outlines the details of their latest brain spasm.

"Our major new initiative is the Aquos centre of excellence programme. We're looking to sign up high quality dealers across the UK to become Aquos LCD experts, selling the benefits of LCD to consumers. We're giving these dealers significant marketing and training support, plus a dedicated Sharp Aquos sales consultant. It's a new style of trading partnership for us and the dealers concerned--one which we're confident will grow our share of the LCD market and the market as a whole."

One advantage, highlighted by Samsung's Mark Neave, that LCD has is familiarity. While the liquid crystal slopping away inside a digital watch may bear little resemblance to the products wowing customers up and down London's Tottenham Court Road, people have already seen it at work in laptops and on their computers.

"In the PC monitor industry, LCD has already taken 50% of the market," states Mr Nguyen. "In only a few years, all PC monitors will be LCD--CRT will be obsolete. This growth trend has generated a huge industrial capacity, which has now matured sufficiently to address TV applications, just as consumer demand is ramping up for such a product. With these two trends combined, uptake is naturally massive."

With all the pieces in place, then there are just a few things that need to happen in order to tip it over the edge and propel LCD to consumer electronics superstardom.

"Typically," says Philips's Mr Nguyen, "this market is now looking for price erosion (to reach more `mass consumer' market prices), a greater diversity of screen sizes and of course intrinsic improvements in parameters, such as black level, crystal response--for better reproduction of moving images--resolution, brightness and so on. We're committed to improving pictures quality for consumers."

Others, however, such as Sharp's Mr Newsome, feels that currently the market is not being held back by choice. With such a desirable product it is reassuring for retailers that people will not simply be making a beeline for the cheapest product on the shelf.

"For today's LCD consumer, price is less of a concern than screen size and styling, although that will inevitably change as the market matures from early adopters. We see a 10-15% price reduction year on year for LCD and I'm confident that it will be a serious choice for a wide range of consumers within a few years.

"Increasing screen size is the main area in which the market will develop, along with integration of other technologies into LCD TVs, such as DVD players. It won't be too long before LCD TVs will be equally at home in the kitchen bedroom, study or as the focus of home entertainment in the lounge."

In the past, the sound quality for LCD has put people off choosing it for their home entertainment systems. This however, should soon change, with Samsung's Mr Neave announcing that they will be offering TVs with Dolby Digital capability. In fact, Mr Neave feels that within the next five years, it will become the largest consumer electronics market. Already it has done great things in Japan, and he feels that Europe is going to be next.

Ultimately, LCD has struggled through its teething problems to become a major technology in the marketplace, one with which consumers are familiar, and one which offers tangible benefits. With the right kind of marketing and the right information in place in store, LCD television offers massive benefits to all those capable of making the most of it.

COPYRIGHT 2002 DMG World Media Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group

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