Flat screen market prices crash further

[photopress:flatscreen_1.jpg,full,alignright]A fierce price war among China's flat screen television producers has seen prices drop by 30 percent in the first nine months of this year.

Lu Renbo, an expert with the Research and Development Center of the State Council, said his research showed prices of Chinese LCD sets had declined markedly, and those of plasma screen sets also fell this year.

The difference? Plasma screens are typically offered in one size — 42 inches — and are typically more expensive than LCD which is offered in a whole range of sizes.

The price war is intensifying with profits being squeezed and the cheapest price for LCD sets being RMB4,999 in Beijing. 300 million flat screens were sold by August, and demand for the year expected to exceed 500 million.

An Yongcheng, a senior engineer with the State Television Quality Inspection Center, said, 'Competent enterprises beat rivals with innovative technologies and reliable quality, rather than irrational price cutting. Price wars are not sensible.'

Lu expected eight of the 15 active brands in the market to survive the fierce competition. The eight brands include five domestic and three foreign producers, which account for a combined market share of 65 percent.
Souce: Xinhua