The street price for 40- to 45-inch flat panel sets dropped an average of 14 percent from the first quarter to the second quarter in 2005, according to new research. Pacific Media Associates (PMA) concluded that prices for 42- to 43-inch flat panel HD plasma sets had the largest decline, dropping 17 percent. Average prices for 40- to 42-inch HD LCD units dropped 14 percent.
In sales, 40- to 45-inch flat panels increased by 26 percent over the first half of 2005. For rear projection, sales of 40- to 45-inch DLP RPTVs increased by 65 percent during the same period--with that growth coming largely at the expense of 40- to 45-inch LCD RPTVs, which dropped in sales by 44 percent.
PMA reported prices are dropping quicker now that micro-display RPTVs are more widely available in 40- to 44-inch sizes. Its survey shows that while overall volume for all RPTVs was actually down in the Q2 of 2005, their attractive pricing was forcing flat panel prices to decline sharply.
The new research concludes that while there is still a noticeable price gap between RPTVs and HD flat panels, the gap steadily grows smaller.
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