Home entertainment: Price war in audio-video market

The market is currently witnessing a price war, with several manufacturers lowering their prices amid sluggish sales, while others are slashing their prices to a level that makes their products competitive with Chinese products.

Take Samsung, for example. Its CS-29K10 flat Plano CRT TV (full stereo) has just been cut in price from Rp 3,030,000 to Rp 2,950,000, the exact price at which the Philips 29PT3323 is on offer. These two products have the potential to divert buyers' eyes away from the Chinese-made Changhong 29EQ1 flat TV (full stereo, surround), which has just been discounted by Rp 50,000 to Rp 2,775,000!

Philips can also tout another prime product, its 29PT3223 (AV stereo), which has just been slashed in price by Rp 150,000 to Rp 2,600,000. It should be noted that this Philips TV set is still less expensive than the Samsung CS-29K5 Plano TV (AV stereo), which is going for Rp 2,900,000, or the LG RT-29FA35V Flatron TV (AV stereo), which is available for Rp 2,775,000. However, the Sharp 29WF200 (AV stereo) is also good as an alternative at a competitive price of Rp 2,865,000.

If you have only a limited budget, you may opt for the Sanyo CG-29SZ2 (sub woofer, conventional screen), which, after being discounted by Rp 170,000, is now going for Rp 2,130,000. In terms of price, this particular TV set may indeed beat Chinese-made TV sets with the same specifications.

In the meantime, the LCD TV market continues to experience price drops. Undeniably, this is the result of the lower prices for LCD TV panels. Take, for example, the Samsung LA26R51B LCD TV (26 inches), which is provided with the DNIe, HDMI Digital Interlace, PiP (1 tuner), Double Window and PC input terminal features, and has a 3000:1 contrast ratio and 1366 x 768 resolution. This product is now on offer at Rp 15,200,000. Compare this with the Taiwanese-made AOC A27W231 LCD TV (27 inches), which is going for Rp 10,500,000.

Significant price drops have also occurred in the Plasma TV market. The Sony Ke-MX42A1, for example, has been cut in price from Rp 46,500,000 to Rp 36,700,000. Similarly, the LG MT Plasma TV MT-42PX4TA has also just enjoyed a price cut -- Rp 2,500,000 -- and is now available for Rp 24,000,000!

If you happen to need a big-screen television set, then you may opt for the Philips 43-inch projection TV (43PP8545), which has just been slashed in price from Rp 10,600,000 to Rp 9,000,000. A rival to this Philips TV is the Samsung SP-43T8HF (43 inches), which has been discounted by Rp 300,000 to Rp 8,800,000.

What about handycams? The latest market survey shows that the Panasonic NV-GS150, formerly going for Rp 7,750,000, is now on offer for Rp 7,300,000! Samsung, meanwhile, also has an attractive offer. Its VP-D6550i, which is provided with two cameras (one digital video and one digital camera), is on sale for Rp 7,300,000.

Meanwhile, the JVC GR-DZ7 has just been cut in price by Rp 180,000 to Rp 5,800,000. Compare this with the JVC GR-DX307, which is now available for Rp 5,150,000 after a price discount of Rp 350,000. If you need a powerful but inexpensive handycam, you may want to consider the JVC GR-250 (25 x zoom optical), which is available for Rp 2,850,000.

Please note that JVC also offers handycams without film celluloid as the recording medium. Provided with hard disks of 20 Gb and 30 Gb capacity respectively, they are the Everio GZ-MG20 (25 x zoom optical, 2 mega pixels, flash), on sale for Rp 6,700,000, and the Everio GZ-MG50 (15 x zoom optical), available for Rp 7,900,000.

The DVD compo market is also seeing price cuts. The Aiwa JAX- V55, after a discount of Rp 260,000, is now available for Rp 2,280,000, while the Aiwa JAX-DG has just been cut in price by Rp 400,000 to Rp 2,600,000. Another choice could be the Pioneer EV66DVD, which has been reduced in price by Rp 200,000 to Rp 3,000,000.

Doharto J. Simatupang

Latest prices of home entertainment products

No Brand/Type Specs Price (Rp) 1 LG 42PX4-TA Plasma TV, 42 inch,

Full Stereo, Tru Surround,

30 watt (RMS), Multi PiP,

Double Window, PC input 23.500.000 2 Philips 29PT3223 CRT Flat TV, 29 inch, AV

stereo2.600.000 3.100.000 3 Sanyo CG29EF2D CRT Flat TV, 29 inch,

AV Stereo, DVD input,

Bass X'pander 2.550.000 4 Panasonic TC-29FG50M

CRT Flat TV, 29 inch,

Full Stereo, DVD input 3.570.000-- 3.800.000 5 Changhong 29EQ1 CRT Flat TV, 29 inch,

Full Stereo 2.775.000 6 Samsung CS-29K10 CRT Flat TV, 29 inch,

Full Stereo 2.950.000 7 Samsung CS-29K30 CRT Flat TV, 29 inch,

Full Stereo, DVD input 2.950.000 8 Toshiba 21JZ8DE CRT Flat TV, 21 inch,

Full stereo, DVD input,

Surround Speaker Wireless 2.100.000--2.175.000 9 JVC AV-21MS30 CRT Flat TV, 21 inch,

Full Stereo, DVD input 1.770.000-- 2.000.000 10 JVC AV-21WX14 CRT Flat TV, 21 inch,

AV stereo, DVD input,

Cinema Surround 1.575.000 11 Samsung CS-21N30MJZ CRT Flat TV, 21 inch,

Mono 1.230.000 12 Samsung CS-21K30 CRT Flat TV, 21 inch,

Full Stereo 1.520.000 - 1.575.000 13 Samsung CS-21T20MQ CRT Flat TV, 21 inch,

Full Stereo, DVD input terminal,

DNIe Jr. 1.150.000 14 Sanken Digital Plus

CRT Flat TV, 21 inch,

AV Stereo 1.150.000 15 JVC GR-D93AG Handycam, 10X Zoom Optical,

Mini DV, 1.33 Mega Pixels 3.900.000 16 JVC GR-D250 Handycam 25X Zoom Optical,

Mini DV 2.850.000 17 JVC GR-DX307AG Handycam 10X Zoom Optical,

LCD 3.0", Mini DV,

1.33 Mega Pixels 5.150.000-- 5.500.000 18 JVC GR-DZ7 Handycam, 10X Zoom Optical,

Mini DV, 2.12 Mega Pixels 5.800.000 19 Samsung VP-D352 Handycam, 20X Zoom Optical,

Mini DV, 0.8 Mega Pixels 3.100.000 20 Samsung VP-D353 Handycam, 20X Zoom Optical,

Mini DV, 0.8 Mega Pixels 3.000.000 21 Panasonic NV-GS150EN Handycam, 10X Zoom Optical,

Mini Dv, 2.32 Mega Pixels,

Web Cam, MPEG4 7.300.000 - 7.750.000 22 Aiwa JAX-D3 DVD Mini Compo, AC-3 decoder,

1.350 watt PMPO, iBass 2.600.000 23 LG LX-D3350 DVD Mini Compo, Sub-woofer

speaker,120 watt (RMS),

DivX 1.930.000 24 Philips DVP-5500S DVD Player, AC-3/dts decoder,

Full Karaoke, Progressive Scan,

DivX, SACD 1.025.000 25 Sony Play Station 2 1.900.000 - 2.000.000 26 Samsung DVD-P348 DVD Player, Progressive,

Multi Memory Card Slot (7 in 1) 840.000 27 Sony DVP-M20P DVD Player, Progressive Scan,

12 bit/108 Video DAC 960.000 28 Vitron DVD-666A DVD Player, Multi Memory Card Slot,

AC3 decoder, Karaoke 450.000 - 500.000 29 Shinco SDP-5860 Portable DVD, LCD TFT 5", HDCD, rechargeable Battery 1.400.000 --1.675.000 30 Next Base SDV-185SFM

Tablet DVD, LCD TFTWide Screen,

built-in stereo speaker, FM Transmission

4.350.000 31 Samsung HT-DS110 HTiB, DVD player,

6 speaker 1.750.000

Surveys were conducted at the Senen Electronics shop in Atrium Plaza, Senen, the Victory Electronics shop in Orion Plaza, Glodok, AGIS and Carrefour between Oct. 25 and Oct. 28