It's a Buyer's Market: PC Prices Plummet

Flat-Panel Prices Falling--For Now

Personal computers aren't the only technology tools selling at attractive prices: Flat-panel displays are also at all-time lows.

Once seen only in executive suites and specialized workplaces such as Wall Street trading rooms or hospitals, flat-panel monitors are now within reach of most PC owners. Thanks to a dramatic increase in LCD production, supply has outpaced demand, and vendors are offering 15-inch displays for street prices as low as $500.

We're not talking about no-name vendors with bottom-rung products, but major vendors with quality displays. During one week in April, Dell, NEC-Mitsubishi, and ViewSonic all slashed prices on their existing 15-inch units. Samsung hit the $500 mark a month earlier, and IBM and Sharp are offering comparable prices on newly launched models. (Look for a comparative review of 15-inch flat-panel displays in our August issue.)

Price cuts extend beyond the 15-inch universe to larger sizes as well. NEC-Mitsubishi cut the estimated retail price on its 18-inch MultiSync LCD1800 from $1899 to an unheard-of $1145--or a street price of $1000. ViewSonic's 17-inch VE170 now has an estimated street price of $995.

"This is a very exciting time for the LCD market--this is a price point we've been waiting to see," said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at display market research firm Stanford Resources.

As the firm tracked the market, the average price of a 15-inch LCD moved from $2627 in the first quarter of 1998, to nearly $1100 a year later, up slightly to just over $1100 in 2000, and finally to about $750 in early 2001. The forecast average price this spring was about $690, including a number of sub-$500 units.

But don't expect prices to drop much further, Alexander warns. While 15-inch LCD monitors should sell at $500 through the summer, prices will probably start creeping up again by fall.

"Jump now is my advice," Alexander says. "Get 'em while they're hot."

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