PriceSCAN Blog: Is The Super Bowl Bolstering Post-Holiday Flat-Screen Prices?

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Is The Super Bowl Bolstering Post-Holiday Flat-Screen Prices?

Electronics | Jan 28, 08

Football, that thinking man's alternative to Ultimate Fighting, may be helping to support LCD and plasma television pricing.
In the wake of the holiday shopping season, we've seen considerable analyst speculation that a slowing economy would bring lower flat-screen sales growth and hence a drop in prices. However, in January the prices of many televisions seem to have stabilized ahead of our national celebration of large men colliding with one another. Consider the PriceTrend graphs (below) for the most popular LCD and plasma sets on this site, those being the 52 inch Samsung LN-T5271F and the 50 inch Panasonic TH-50PZ700U, respectively.
Samsung LN-T5271F
Time Period: 9/3/2007 through 1/21/2008
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Panasonic TH-50PZ700U
Time Period: 4/16/2007 through 1/21/2008
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Each moderated its price descent and even appreciated as we moved through the holidays and approached the Super Bowl, and I can't help but wonder if this has something to do with a last minute scramble to equip television rooms with the latest technology prior to the game. This price stabilization has been fairly widespread among flat screen models and manufacturers, as can be seen by examining our composite PriceSCAN LCD and Plasma indices.
Of course, reductions in flat-screen production (especially LCDs) may also be helping to support prices from the supply side. But perhaps, even in the face of looming recession, the American consumer is simply loathe to give up his or her high-definition dreams, especially when they involve watching this country's version of human chess (Hey, the average NFL defensive back is still far more intelligent and articulate then most plastic rooks. So long, Bobby Fisher.) It will be interesting to see if we experience a return to softening prices following this coming Sunday. In the meantime, just be glad science has allowed us to watch these modern gladiators spit out a mouthful of Gatorade in stunning 1080p resolution.