By its own estimate, Samsung has grabbed an 88 percent share of the 3-D TV market in the U.S. The business is still in its early days so you would think there would be time for others to give Samsung a run for its money, but not so, according to one of the South Korean's main contributors.
"No one can keep up," Yoshiiku Miyata, head of Panasonic's TV business, told Bloomberg Businessweek. The reason, according to Mr. Miyata, is Samsung is selling a 50-inch 3-D set for under $1,000 while his company and Sony are selling comparable sets at $2,499.99 and $2,299.99 respectively.
Samsung, which is the largest supplier of televisions in the world, claims to have sold over one million 3-D models in its first six months on the market.
One area where the company has hoped to take an early lead is the development of 3-D sets not requiring viewing glasses. John Revie, vice president of home entertainment at Samsung Electronics, told IDG News that the technology was a ways off.
According to Mr. Revie, watching 3-D TV without glasses can only be done at a lower resolution and the sets are more expensive to manufacture. There is one other issue, he said. "You have to watch it virtually motionless" or the viewing image becomes distorted.
Discussion Questions: Will Samsung's pricing strategy dramatically move up the timetable for adoption of 3-D technology in American households? Do you expect other 3-D TV makers to drop prices to compete with Samsung or has the bar been set too low for anyone to follow?