By Star Chang, posted Nov 23, 2011 at 9:43 AM, 721 views,

Chinese Vendors Slash 3D TV Prices to Promote Sales

The demand for 3D Television is expected to pick up soon on the grounds that the Chinese government will begin trial operations of 3D TV channels starting 2012. The authorities encourage Chinese consumers to pick up 3D TVs as the government-backed China Central Television will broadcast the London Olympic Games using 3D technology for next year. Most of the branded TV vendors in China have already adopted aggressive pricing strategies to promote sales of 3D TVs. Some domestic brand vendors have slashed the prices of 42-inch model to around 5,000 yuan (US$787) …

Ever since 3 Dimensional televisions hit the China market last year, the price tags have been so high that many local consumers have been reluctant to buy them. But during recent months, both domestic and overseas brands have offered price cuts on 3D television sets, with some offering as much as 40% to 50% off. For example, a 55 inch 3D TV at the price of about 50 thousand yuan (US$7850) on its debut, now it can easily get the same model, a domestic brand, for just over 10 thousand yuan (US$1570). Some market insiders have pointed out that many local brands hope to gain a larger share of the market by slashing their prices, and the core technology of manufacturing 3D TVs is no longer monopolized by foreign manufacturers.

Another major reason for the fall in prices is the lack of original 3D content. In China, only a few movies or TV programs are produced in 3D format. The common TV programs are not transmitted by a 3D signal, and not even in HD. Many customers complain that they rarely use the 3D function, and regret spending such large amounts of money on something that cannot be used frequently. To solve the problem, some manufacturers have offered special technology allowing viewers to covert the 2D format of movies into 3D. However, the transformed content still doesn’t provide a 100 percent 3D effect. This solution is still not meeting the demands of many Chinese viewers who want to watch 3D pictures at any time.

After discount, the price of a 3D TV in China will be similar to that of an LED or LCD television set. The prices will continue to drop as competition becomes fiercer among TV manufacturers later this year. While the sales of 3D TV are not doing very well in western countries, China might become the most important market for the manufacturers, as many Chinese consumer still amazes on those TV sets with 3D features.

Source: DIGITIMES, GLOBALTIMES