LG's 55-inch OLED HDTV will cost $8,000 when introduced in May
Summary: The 55EM9600 will be rolled out during the Cannes Film Festival in May, with a price tag that equals the glitz of that event.
Details have emerged about LG's forthcoming launch of the 55-inch OLED HDTV it introduced at CES in January. It appears that the set will be rolled out during the Cannes Film Festival in May, with a price tag that equals the glitz of that event.
LG is apparently pricing the 55EM9600 at 9 million Korean Won, or around $8,000. While that is far more than the average buyer would pay for a new set, it wouldn't have surprised people if the LG was priced at $10,000 at launch. It's also a better "deal" (if you can call it that) than the first consumer OLED TV, an 11-inch model that Sony sold for $2,500.
The launch will set off a small arms war with Samsung, which is also rolling out its own Super OLED TV later this year. LG says it will determine in July whether it will invest more resources in OLED TV production, presumably based on initial consumer demand for the 55EM9600.
Do you have any interest in buying the 55-inch OLED when (and if) it makes it to the U.S. at its launch price?
[OLED-Info.com via The Verge]
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Talkback
If you haven't seen OLED . . . .
I won't be buying one at that price, but this is the Next Big Thing in displays. I hope they do well and work hard to bring the price down to mass market level.
That's the same exact description I heard about the plasma TVs
Yet, when I investigate the plasma TVs back then, I was less than impressed. Hopefully, this LG OLED will really be like "looking out a window".
@adornae ... i'm with you on that call
Even with all that said (and done), if it's only marginally better than current HDMI/HDTV offerings from any LCD/LED television OEM, i think i'll pass. I mean *No TV's* worth $8K ... unless maybe if they throw in a free, long term cable subscription with a live TV, receiver-recorder. ;)
Oh how easily we forget ...
Not too long ago (6, maybe 7 years), Samsung had a 40" rear projection, DLP Television for just under $5000 - it was big, clunky, didn't do 1080 (i or p), and you'd have a hell of a time mounting it on your wall - and that was at the end of the era for Rear Projection TVs.
Not too long before that, the first Plasma TV,s came out, while still significantly slimmer than any TV before it, it was still kind of clunky (I don't believe they did 1080i, but I may be wrong), and the price tag was in excess of $15,000 for about 50 inches.
This is new, amazing technology that is the closest to CRT we may ever get, while being the most power efficient yet ... and the damn thing is thinner than your pinky finger and lighter than your head ... I had $8,000 not already earmarked for bills, I'd pay that, it's cheap for cutting edge technology.
Ludo
This really isn't that bad of a price
I'd have to see one...
So, I'd have to see it running alongside the best of the LED backlit LCD displays. There would have to be a significant visual difference for me to pay double the price for an OLED. That said, if they actually are noticeably better, I definitely would pay the price. Watching perfectly-displayed movies is important to me.
And by Dec...
There is no such thing as "Apple" stupidity...
But this is just an OLED HDTV... Anyone paying 8 large (or more) for any TV (past or present) is compensating for some seriously short comings. In other words, someone has a tiny, tiny, tiny... er.... bit of self esteem.
Rich guys with money to burn....
Thanks
I like toys too, just affordable ones!
Better than the only other viable OLED on the market which is 25" @ $14,000
It's not about the price..
Samsung Will Cost More