PriceSCAN Blog: Big Panasonic Plasma At Sharp Discount To LCD

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Big Panasonic Plasma At Sharp Discount To LCD

Computers | Mar 29, 06

When it comes ringing up big numbers on the home entertainment cash register, there used to be few items that said "ka-ching!" louder than a big-screen plasma television. However, the products of two of the handful of manufacturers of screens at the rarified 65" size are displaying an interesting price relationship. Sharp's new LC-65D90U AQUOS Widescreen 65" LCD screen is selling at a considerable premium to Panasonic’s TH-65PHD8UK, the most popular plasma of the same size on PriceSCAN.com. It's worth noting that the Sharp has 1080p resolution, as opposed to 720i on the Panasonic. Now I'm not sure how much this means to the viewer who does not have the visual acuity of a peregrine falcon, and that goes for the plasma fans argument that their screens possess truer blacks than LCD. What is easier to see is that right now Panasonic's plasma is selling for a drab over $7,500, whereas Sharp's LCD is going for well over twice that.

Now we have seen some significant drops in the price of certain top-line plasmas, as exemplified in the graph of the Panasonic in question (below). We've also seen the withdrawal of Sony, formerly a major player in plasmas and now banking on other technologies. Panasonic, by contrast, seems to have increased its bet on plasmas. Look to see how long its price advantage holds as we move forward into a world of big LCDs.

Time Period: 9/19/2005 through 3/20/2006
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price