HDTV Makers Play 'My Screen's Bigger'HDTV Makers Play 'My Screen's Bigger'

This is what the blogosphere has driven me to -- tawdry headlines in search of traffic. But what do you expect, on a day when I receive an e-mail from a respected market-research firm with the subject line, "Does Size Matter for U.S. Flat-Panel TV Buyers?"Turns out that line was a tease, too, because the data, from iSuppli Corp., shows that screen size isn't as important to most buyers as -- surprise -- price. Picture quality and brand also ranked as top considerations when picking a set. (Which set should you pick? I don't make recommendations, but if you check out my HDTV Buyer's Guide 2008, you can get a good idea of what's out there.)

So here's the funky thing about the iSuppli e-mail. Halfway down, under the heading "pricing factors," there's this: "Among lower-income-level U.S. consumers -- i.e. those earning $25,000 a year or less -- the price of the television was the biggest factor when selecting which set to buy, unsurprisingly." Please don't think I'm making fun of low-income families, who've got more problems than which flat-panel they're hoping to buy.

Rather, I'm questioning the income banding routinely used in such surveys. As in, you're grouping together apples and oranges. (Or maybe cornflakes and brie.) Once sees the problem by looking one of iSuppli's other findings: "Among consumers with annual incomes in a range from less than $25,000 to $99,999, screen size was the fifth-most important consideration, price, picture quality and brand name ranked as the top considerations for U.S. consumers with incomes in the less than $25,000 to $99,999 income range."

OK, enough with my methodology bashing. What's really interesting here is that the finding -- that price isn't paramount -- actually makes sense. Because once you've decided that you've got the bucks to buy that HDTV (I know I'm conflating flat-panels with HDTVs, but that's not so much of an error nowadays), you're much more focused on what you're getting for your money. Like a good picture and a well-made set.

This jibes with what I learned when I sat down for a chat with the Sharp Aquos people recently. I asked if people did a lot of research before they bought. My thinking was, how could you possibly go out and buy a big-ticket item without doing the Consumer Reports thing. (Or at least reading HDTV Buyer's Guide 2008.) Turns out that, for small- to medium-sized sets -- we're talking 22-, 26, and 32-inches -- consumers actually do take a ride down to the store and just pick one out. Most of the pre-buy studying gets done when you're talking the really expensive models, which would be the large-screen HDTVs.

On that front, Sharp has taken out a full-page ad in Monday's New York Times, which not only touts its Aquos brand, but emphasizes the company's LCD heritage. "We created the largest LCD display ever, at 108-inches." So I guess size does matter, at least as far as bragging rights go.

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