Black Friday brings more 4K TVs under $1,000
TV shoppers looking to upgrade to a new 4K Ultra HD TV -- and get a bargain -- will have more luck this Black Friday.
Last year, only a handful of the new 4K UHD TVs could be found for $1,000 or less. The displays are called 4K because they about 4,000 lines of horizontal pixels -- four times the resolution of current high-def. Two years ago, most 4K TVs were $7,000 or more.
However, as TV makers expanded their lines, they have more models available at a range of prices.
LG and Samsung each have as many sub-$1,000 4K models available this year as were available across all TV makers last year. “For anybody thinking about buying a new TV this holiday season, there’s never been a better time to buy a 4K TV with prices lower than ever on Black Friday,” said LG Electronics USA vice president John Taylor.
Best Buy is among retailers with a 65-inch LG 4K UHD Smart LED TV for $999.99 ($700 off) and several stores including Kmart, Walmart and Amazon have LG's 55-inch model for $699.99 ($500 off). For more, check LG's Black Friday deals online.
Other major TV makers such as Sharp, Sony and Vizio have 4K displays priced below $1,000, too.
A Sharp 50-inch 4K Ultra HD AQUOS LED Smart HDTV priced at $749.99 can be found at HH Gregg, as well as Amazon and Walmart, according to TheBlackFriday.com. The site also lists a Vizio 60-inch 4K Smart Ultra HDTV for $799.99 that can be found at Amazon, Dell and Walmart and a Sony 55-inch Smart LED TV for $899.99 at Amazon and Walmart.
Samsung has a Black Friday online hub for its two dozen sub-$1,000 4K deals, too. Among them are the 55-inch and 50-inch SUHD TV models priced at $999.99 ($1,000 off) and $799.99 ($900 off), respectively, and a 55-inch curved Smart TV that sneaks into the sub-$1,000 category at $999.99. "Black Friday is not just about ultra-deep discounts," said Dave Das, Samsung Electronics America senior vice president. "The weeks surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday are really the best time of the year for consumers to get fantastic deals on a variety of fantastic brands, as well as technology throughout the portfolio."
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Over the months of August to October, 4K TVs priced below $1,000 made up nearly half (47%) of all TVs purchased, according to market research firm The NPD Group. "A surprisingly large amount" of big screen 4K sets (over 50 inches) sold for under $1,000 over that three-month time frame, said Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis.
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By the end of September, TV makers had already matched the Consumer Technology Association's projected 4.5 million shipments of 4K UHD TVs. The trade group now expects U.S. 4K sales of about 7 million in 2015.
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