Good news for everyone looking for a flat-screen TV, but just happen to be too cheap to buy one.
Thanks to the Law of Supply and Demand (NewsFeed knows you were awake in Econ class when the professor was explaining this), an overstock of the devices is causing a significant price drop just in time for the holiday season. So by the end of September, LCD sets will be about 5% lower than they were this time last year, according to CNNMoney.
Retailers may slash the cost even lower when Black Friday hits in November, meaning the average price could go down to between $249 and $299, says research firm iSuppli. That follows a trend from which the screens went from about $1500 in 2005 to between $349 and $399.
The reason for the oversupply is a pileup of the screens in the first nine months of 2010, coupled with slow demand over the course of the year. As many as 52 million were shipped in this year’s second quarter, but only 38.7 made it to retailers. That means they will be eager to move the remaining 14 million at a savings to consumers.
So all-in-all, prepare yourselves for an entire season of ridiculous commercials touting “crazy,” “we can’t be beat” and “out of this world” prices by local electronics and appliance stores who will be in serious trouble if you don’t make it your business to watch more television than you already do.