Why are HD tv's so expensive

[canman]

I was just searching the web for some gifts for family back in Canada, and I was amazed how cheap HD TVs cost there. Then I was talking to a friend and he mentioned that most people had the TVs already, so I thought well they must be Samsung or LG, but no they were sharp and Toshiba and Hitachi. So why are they so damn expensive here? Is it possible the TVs they have in Canada are some of the older models that Japan first produced but didn't sell well? Or is it just because the Canadian dollar is so strong at the moment.

[AssKissinger]

It's because price fixing is standard procedure in Japan.

[ttjereth]

I was just searching the web for some gifts for family back in Canada, and I was amazed how cheap HD TVs cost there. Then I was talking to a friend and he mentioned that most people had the TVs already, so I thought well they must be Samsung or LG, but no they were sharp and Toshiba and Hitachi. So why are they so damn expensive here? Is it possible the TVs they have in Canada are some of the older models that Japan first produced but didn't sell well? Or is it just because the Canadian dollar is so strong at the moment.

The HD/digital TV standards here and everywhere else on the planet are different, so they almost certainly aren't just unsold models from Japan.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I thought well they must be Samsung or LG, but no they were sharp and Toshiba and Hitachi.

Quit living in the past. LG and Samsung make better TVs than the Japanese now.

Anyway, a lot of places in the US (and so that probably means Canada too) are selling them at a loss.

[Watcher]

Almost all tech is cheaper (relative to you living/earning Canadian dollars) in Canada than Japan. Take the cheapest laptops/notebook computers for example. What's the cheapest you can find for one in Japan? I'd bet you can find a similar or even better spec model for at least $200 cheaper in Canada. One reason, I'd wager, is that the C$ is a whole lot higher to the yen than it once was. In 2000 (when I first went over to Japan) it was 72Yen to $1CDN. Now it's about 120Yen to $1CDN. Makes for great tech buys here in Canada and lousy eikaiwa wages if you're converting (I'm guessing with Nova's bust and the poor exchange rate that there are far fewer Canadians going to Japan to teach right now).

Edit: You Japan-living folks, however, can still brag about your mobile phones and rates, however. We seriously suck in that department.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Almost all tech is cheaper (relative to you living/earning Canadian dollars) in Canada than Japan. Take the cheapest laptops/notebook computers for example. What's the cheapest you can find for one in Japan? I'd bet you can find a similar or even better spec model for at least $200 cheaper in Canada. One reason, I'd wager, is that the C$ is a whole lot higher to the yen than it once was. In 2000 (when I first went over to Japan) it was 72Yen to $1CDN. Now it's about 120Yen to $1CDN. Makes for great tech buys here in Canada and lousy eikaiwa wages if you're converting (I'm guessing with Nova's bust and the poor exchange rate that there are far fewer Canadians going to Japan to teach right now).

Edit: You Japan-living folks, however, can still brag about your mobile phones and rates, however. We seriously suck in that department.

I'm not sure I agree with your math there.

[Doctor Stop]

Two words: price fixing.

[FG Lurker]

Quit living in the past. LG and Samsung make better TVs than the Japanese now.

I'd buy Samsung over Sony, but Sharp over Samsung. Sharp has some kickass TVs. Rather a moot point anyway though, Samsung has pulled out of the Japanese consumer electronics market.

[FG Lurker]

Almost all tech is cheaper (relative to you living/earning Canadian dollars) in Canada than Japan.

I'm not sure what sort of wage you earned while here but I have a lot more buying power here in Japan than any of my friends living in Canada do...

Take the cheapest laptops/notebook computers for example. What's the cheapest you can find for one in Japan?

Personally I wouldn't buy any of the cheapass notebooks I have seen, none of them come even close to IBM/Lenovo in features and options. For my T60 I have two full docking stations along with multiple modular hot swap devices for the multibay.

That said, there is lots of cheap stuff around. Dell advertises dual core AMD notebooks for under $500 Canadian these days. AMD Turion TL-56/120GB HDD/1GB memory/15.4" wide TFT/CDRW&DVD combo drive/w-lan/XP or Vista Home/etc. Keep in mind that this is a machine from a real company, not a store brand, and it has a 1 year warranty. You can get store brands cheaper if you look around, and there is also lots of Acer and emachines stuff out there too.

[canman]

I didn't mean the comment about LG and Samsung to be derogatory or anything like that, it just seemed that when I was at home usually Korean goods were priced a little cheaper than the Japanese ones, hence making it cheaper and easier for more folks to buy one. I too have no problem buying Korean made products, but as Lurker said, LG has now pulled out of the Japanese market. Also I heard that it was really difficult to get any kind of after sales service.

[American Oyaji]

Part of the reason is that here in the U.S., HD is going to become the standard by law.

[Adhesive]

It's because price fixing is standard procedure in Japan.

Yup. Zennith sued Matsushita for this in the 80's, claiming Japanese manufactures were able to fix prices in Japan (no foreign compeitition to undermine their agreed prices) in order to subsidize dumping in North America and essentially putting American manufacturers out of business. It went up to the supreme court, and Matsushita eventually won. If I remember correctly, the court doubted the conspiracy because Zenith still controlled such a huge portion of the American market at the time, and because cheaper prices were good for consumers (plus, jurisdictionally, they couldn't really do anything about a conspiracy to fix prices in Japan).

They failed, however, to take into account what would happen once Japanese eventually had complete control of the electronic industry and could steadily raise prices...but fortunately for us the Koreans entered the market, and the Japanese still have to compete.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Do you think one of the reasons Korean products can't compete in Japan yet is that the Japanese can't get their head around the idea that Korea makes great electronics now?

[Adhesive]

Well, I would imagine Japanese WTO membership would prevent them from imposing large tariffs or anything, so I guess it's just the Japanese consumer's mind set.

A lot of people like to point to the Japanese consumption of foreign designer goods as proof that the Japanese aren't protectionists or nationalistic in their purchasing decisions, but I don't think it's particularly accurate to compare clothes and handbags to autos and electronics.

[FG Lurker]

Do you think one of the reasons Korean products can't compete in Japan yet is that the Japanese can't get their head around the idea that Korea makes great electronics now?

There is likely some nationalism involved, sure.

That said, what was the last Korean-brand ad or CM you saw in Japan? I saw a very few ads here but no major campaigns. It's tough to break into a new market without good marketing... On top of that there is little that the Koreans are actually doing better than the Japanese. Yes, there are some great products out of Korea but there is no one consumer area where the Koreans are kicking Japanese ass. Getting people to switch brands is difficult when there is little perceived benefit from doing so.

[Samurai_Jerk]

There is likely some nationalism involved, sure.

That said, what was the last Korean-brand ad or CM you saw in Japan? I saw a very few ads here but no major campaigns. It's tough to break into a new market without good marketing... On top of that there is little that the Koreans are actually doing better than the Japanese. Yes, there are some great products out of Korea but there is no one consumer area where the Koreans are kicking Japanese ass. Getting people to switch brands is difficult when there is little perceived benefit from doing so.

I wasn't thinking nationalism so much as Korean products still being associated with the cheap crap Samsung and Goldstar used to make. I would agree that lack of marketing is definitely a problem.

Speaking of marketing, I've always wondered how the fuck Starbucks took over first the US and then the world without any marketing.

[American Oyaji]

I wasn't thinking nationalism so much as Korean products still being associated with the cheap crap Samsung and Goldstar used to make. I would agree that lack of marketing is definitely a problem.

Speaking of marketing, I've always wondered how the fuck Starbucks took over first the US and then the world without any marketing.

They had marketing. The best kind. Word of mouth.

[Samurai_Jerk]

They had marketing. The best kind. Word of mouth.

Yeah, I know that, but that's got to be the best example of word-of-mouth marketing ever. Not only did they get everyone in the US to start going to their shops, they convinced people that were used to paying 60 cents for a cup o' joe at McDonald's or the gas station that it was reasonable to pay three bucks for a cup of faggy Euro-style coffee. Amazing.