Possible Price Fixing on Large TV’s

     Are the large TV manufactures up to price fixing again?  In 2010 a number of flat screen TV manufactures pleaded guilty to fixing prices of TV’s made between 1996 and 2006.  They included giants Samsung, Sharp, and Toshiba – just to name a few.  Are they up to the same thing again?

     If you have been in the market for a large screen TV (over 42 inches) this year you might have noticed that prices seem to be running a good $300 to $500 above where they were selling last year.  It does not matter if you are shopping on Amazon, Best Buy or HH Gregg the prices all seem to be higher.  The manufactures all seem to be blaming the cost of rare earth magnets from China.  I for one do not believe that to be the case.

     Lately the TV companies have been trying to shove 3D down our throats but nobody seems to want this feature.  I have spoken to my local Best Buy and HH Gregg managers and they are all saying the same thing.  These high prices are killing them.  They said their sales of large TV’s are down 30% to 40% depending on size.  Sony just said a similar thing in their latest quarterly release, blaming the lack of demand for their poor performance.  Normally when a manufacture has excess inventory and sales were declining they would simply lower prices until they found equilibrium.   Not this time.  They seem to be only throwing in free 3d glasses and blue ray players and only taking minor price cuts.  To me these are signs that they are trying to artificially keep the prices high.  Are they inclusion or not is hard to say but it seems to be all manufactures.

     Where will this end?  I feel eventually the damn will burst and this cartel will need to lower prices just to clear out inventory.  This type of regime works good in the short run especially in a high demand markets, like 1996 to 2006 when the product is new and easy money led to an artificial increase in demand.  When we are near or in a recession, like we are currently in the US, these cartels fall apart when one player panics and drops their price.  This happens frequently in the airline industry.

     Wait a few more months and the price of those TV’s that you want will plummet.   I for one am waiting Samsung to drop the price of their 60 inch LED Smart TV with 240 Hz to the $1,500 to $1,800 range.  Today it sits at $2,400 to $2,900 depending on the store.

Full Disclosure

I am a cheap bastard and will wait for my price.  I really do not need a new TV but would like one.