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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ian deSouza who wrote (28772)	1/26/1998 5:34:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

HDTV prices need to drop............................................. twice.virtualmarketing.com Poll: HDTV Premium Too High - -January 26, 1998 Although HDTV prices reported at CES started at $7,000, more than 70% of the consumers responding to an E/Town poll say they are not willing to pay more than a $1,000 premium over what they would pay for a quality big-screen TV. The survey conducted by the well-known consumer web site, which is affiliated with TWICE, reported that while many of these early adopters appreciate HDTV's attributes, few will pay any price when it becomes available this fall. Responses to the E/Town survey showed that: * 18.7% will spend just enough for a set-top converter. * 20.1% will pay a $500 premium over a quality analog big-screen TV. * 31.5% would consider a $1,000 premium; 19.2%, a $2,000 premium; and 5.9%, a $5,000 premium. * And just 4.4% said price will be no object. Among typical comments: "Though I always long for more resolution and 16:9 format, my Sony 32" XBR2 cost about as much [$2,500] as I can justify spending on any monitor, no matter how good it might be," said Dwain Whittington of Winchester, Va., who would only spend $500 more. C. Ray Eastham of Red Oak, Texas said: "I am not willing to spend more than the bare minimum until I have a chance to judge for myself the benefits of the new medium. If HDTV becomes a viable and stable medium, I will, without hesitation, invest in a long-term relationship with the format. However, being an early adopter of DVD, I have learned to be a little more patient of today's new technologies. I do not want to invest exorbitant amounts of money into a new format, just to have the rug yanked out from underneath me!" E/Town said many respondents noted that they owned Sony XBR2s, which are not inexpensive. If you add the $3,000 cost of an ultra-high-end XBR to their willingness to spend an extra $2,000 -- which only 19% of respondents said they'd be willing to pay -- that's still only $5,000, well below the HDTV starting prices reported during CES. For the complete report, see E/Town at www.e/town.com.