Newsletter Issue #887: Are You Ready for 4K TV?
November 28th, 2016After fits and starts, it is starting to appear as if the long-awaited 4K TV revolution may be coming to pass, to the delight of TV makers. It has certainly reached a critical mass, with more and more low-cost sets supporting the new standard. So I noticed a Samsung 40-inch 4K set for $347.99 at Target, and that’s not the cheapest price you can get. Walmart was offering a no-name (Sceptre) 43-inch 4K TV for $279.99.
Of course, such discount prices are generally exclusive to Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, but the point is that 4K is now available on all but the cheapest sets — yes you can pay less than $279.99 for some of them — so it has become more and more likely that most any TV you buy this holiday season will be 4K. That is the one certain way to guarantee a large share of the market for the new format.
Predictably, that development took several years to occur, as TV makers were able to increase production of the higher resolution flat panels to the point where the costs were roughly comparable to regular HD. But that doesn’t mean customers are ready to make the move, although a report from Target on Black Friday sales does appear to indicate a trend. According to published reports, more than 3,200 units were being sold every minute across the retail chain.
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