Recession has hit the LCD TV manufacturers big, forcing them to cut costs just to stay alive.  Of course, for us consumers this is great news but for LCD TV manufacturers in China, this means barely surviving.

According to NYTimes, companies are lowering prices even further just to survive.

The price reductions are great for consumers, but not so good for the companies that manufacture the sets. “The manufacturers needed to keep sales momentum going when people cut back on spending, so they’re lowering prices,” said Riddhi Patel, an analyst at iSuppli. “They’re just trying to see if they can survive one more quarter.”

So what?

I think in the long run the competition is actually good for the industry.  We as consumers, shouldn’t have to pay extra for features we don’t need.  That means the TV manufacturers need to cut costs by only focusing on features consumers really need instead of adding too much bizazz.

On the other side of the story, chip prices has been coming down every year and electronic parts too, there’s no reason why LCD TV prices should not come lower.

Of course, mass-merchant companies like Wal-mart have been raging price wars among manufacturers for as long as I can remember.  For those Wal-mart suppliers, I think the only way they will survive the fierce price wars is through branding and direct sales channels.   Well, just my 2 cents on the matter, you should never rely on your dealers to sell it for you, sell it to to consumers directly yourself. (or perhaps on Amazon?)