Season bright for plasma, LCD TV sales
BY Joshua Freed
MINNEAPOLIS -- Hanging stockings by the chimney with care? Retailers hope that St. Nicholas soon will be there -- to hang a 42-inch plasma-screen TV.
As prices drop for high-end televisions, sales are leaping. Retailers expect to sell twice as many plasma-screen televisions and three times as many LCD televisions this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.
And with new sellers such as Dell and Wal-Mart now in the market, retailers are looking for new ways to differentiate themselves.
Dell and some other sellers will deliver a TV free of shipping charges. Wal-Mart, competing on price, offers a 42-inch plasma TV for $2,000 at many of its stores, about $1,000 less than many other sellers. Many Best Buy stores will send a technician to visit prospective TV buyers at home, at no charge, to measure and suggest other products. more...
