Economy Causing Drop in HDTV Prices

The cost to purchase an HDTV is still dropping quickly due to the new types of technology that has caused a  gap in the consumer market.  To understand the gap we need to split our consumers into three groups.  The first is the working poor.  The working poor are making it but barely.  Maybe they bought too big of a house, they lost a job and had to take a lower paying one to make ends meet or through a series of bad financial decisions they ended up here.  This group has very little disposable income.  They can scrape some money together but not a lot so they are looking to get a TV for under $400.

The next group is the solid middle class.  This group is getting squeezed right now with higher costs and a lagging economy.  They are cutting back and may already have purchased a new HDTV so they are either looking for a great deal or waiting for the economy to pick up before they upgrade to something newer.  This group will possibly pay up to $700 dollars for a new HDTV but they would prefer to stay under $500 if possible.

Both the above groups could have other circumstances that prompt them to buy a new tv like a child going off to college and taking the old one with them, but they will still not splurge on something really fancy for the time being.

The last group is the buy what I want group.  They are doing great right now so they can buy what they want.  This group goes high end.  They are going to purchase the latest and greatest.  This means they are in the market for one of the new LED televisions or the 3D tv's.  They aren't even looking at LCD's or Plasmas because that it so 2008.  This group will be spending at least $2000 on a new HDTV.

So as you can see this leaves us with a gap.  The gap in what the first two groups can purchase and the last group can purchase is pushing the price of some really nice televisions down to something reasonable.  The retailers are desperately trying to get people to purchase in the $1000 dollar range.  I am seeing ads for this price range all the time.  However, there is always a deal to be had for a great TV somewhere in the $300-$600 range depending on what size you get.

This is an opportunity if you are in the market for a television.  Do not get sucked in by all the new features and such.  Your main reason for buying a TV is to watch television and movies and maybe play video games.  Anything else is just extra that you probably will not miss.

The most recent great deal on a TV I have seen is at Wal-Mart.  You can get Sanyo 42" Plasma 720P HDTV for only $399.99.  The specs all look pretty good and it even has some nice little ad-ons.  If you use the link through BigCrumbs.com you can get an extra 4% cash back making this TV $383.99.