URGENT UPDATE ON LG 38UC99

[Daniel - LG]

Good Afternoon OCUK Forum Members,

I have some good news and some slightly bad news on the 38UC99.

Firstly, the good news, OCUK will still be getting stock this month - they will be receiving 100 units.

The slightly bad news is that LGUK made a pricing error on this part. In the other thread it was noticed that we were circa $200 cheaper than the states - I thought this was great, but it was all down to an error by the Korean Product Director here in the UK.

BUT, I have had it agreed that the first 100 units going into OCUK will be at the agreed price - what this means is that there is basically a special launch price with OCUK on this part. There are 100 units and 100 units only available at the current price advertised by OCUK, after this the price will rise to what it should be - roughly £150 more (this is an estimate).

All I can do is apologise, this is the first time in 2 years this has happened, and honestly its rather embarrassing having to write a post of this nature.

What this does mean is that 100 lucky UK residents will be getting the amazing 38UC99 at a quite reduced price from OCUK.

If you are thinking about ordering this monitor then I would decide quite quickly, and if you have already put one on back order with OCUK, as above the price will be honoured. I will speak with Gibbo but if more than 100 back orders are placed, I will have to look into how many over 100 we are as right now I have been told only these 100 will be supported to this price.

There will be those who think that LG are just being "greedy", or "putting profit before the customer" - this is not the case, sadly this is a simple case of human error within our business - and on the first 100 units we are making a substantial loss.

Any questions, please let me know and I will do my best to respond in a timely manner

Many thanks
Dan

 

[Greebo]

Thats good Of LG but at the current price of a grand I thought it was just slightly too expensive, never mind when its at its proper price of £1200!!!!

Although at current exchange rates it should be nearer £1500 here!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Vega]

Well it's definitely good that LG is honoring the price error. OCUK is definitely the place to pre-order if you want this monitor.

 

[Baddass]

Fair play for being open and up front about it. Better than just hiking the price with no explanation. Sounds like the first 100 orders will be getting a bargain

 

[spoffle]

I don't really think anyone is going to be convinced that these actually cost as much as is implied to manufacture if you are saying that they will be sold at a substantial loss at £1000~.

 

[Greebo]

Again Kudos to LG fro keeping the price but not sure many would sell here at £1500 which is what they should be according to their list price.

Not sure with what the screen offers and its limitations that its worth £500 more than the competition.

 

[LambChop]

I believed everything you said Daniel then you went and spoiled it all by saying you will be making a substantial loss on the first 100 units.

LG will not be making a loss in the slightest. Kudos though for holding that price.

 

[VIPER258]

Decent of you for saying how it is. But just because the initial price is lower than the normal price does not mean you are getting a great deal.

 

[Daniel - LG]

I think a lot of you are under the impression that manufacturers make a lot of money on monitors!

 

[spoffle]

There's a difference between making a lot, and making a substantial loss. There's a huge difference there actually.

 

[Rroff]

I don't really think anyone is going to be convinced that these actually cost as much as is implied to manufacture if you are saying that they will be sold at a substantial loss at £1000~.

Don't forget beyond BoM there is R&D cost, the supply chain and retailer and have to budget for things like some failing. Really couldn't even guess at the level of profit they'd make at this price though.

 

[Vega]

I think a lot of you are under the impression that manufacturers make a lot of money on monitors!

This is very true. I've noticed a trend where people highly under-value high-end/unique manufactured items more and more.

Granted I won't be purchasing the display due to the NVIDIA 60 Hz limitation, but it is still quite a unique/impressive display to manufacture.

 

[spoffle]

Don't forget beyond BoM there is R&D cost, the supply chain and retailer and have to budget for things like some failing. Really couldn't even guess at the level of profit they'd make at this price though.

I'm accounting for all of that, but realistically there won't have been much additional R&D gone into this, plus LG make their own panels, any R&D wouldn't be attributable to the end user arm of LG.

Either way though, their actual costs aren't going to come anywhere near being heigh enough that selling a monitor for £1000 results in a substantial loss.

 

[spoffle]

This is very true. I've noticed a trend where people highly under-value high-end/unique manufactured items more and more.

Granted I won't be purchasing the display due to the NVIDIA 60 Hz limitation, but it is still quite a unique/impressive display to manufacture.

I'm not undervaluing anything, it just has become more and more apparent to me as time goes on that just because something is high end doesn't mean it costs a proportional amount more to produce and manufacture. Pricing is very often to do with perception and not actual costs incurred when manufacturing.

I'm not even having a go at the price specifically, I'm highlighting that there's really no need for the comment about making a loss, I think the post stood by itself without truing to reinforce its relevance by saying that they are otherwise going to lose a "substantial" amount. We can do without that BS.

 

[FTL]

Thanks for the update Daniel. As much as I've been tempted by this screen it has too many (little or otherwise) flaws to consider sadly, especially as an NVIDIA user! Very much looking forward to your 144Hz 1440p Ultrawide, fingers crossed not too far into 2017

 

[chaparral]

Don't forget beyond BoM there is R&D cost, the supply chain and retailer and have to budget for things like some failing. Really couldn't even guess at the level of profit they'd make at this price though.

But there also them same costs on a £200 monitor...

 

[D3K]

Surely scaling a monitor up with the same number of pixels as current tech is easier than scaling it down.
How much RnD effort does that take...

 

[Greebo]

To be fair to lg, their screen department including TVs and monitors only makes 10% net profit and their panel devision only made a profit for the first time in years this quarter.

However 10% net profit doe not equate to margin so maybe lg are selling these 100 at a net loss but it won't be at a gross loss.

 

[Daniel - LG]

Greebo - although the numbers I can see are different, you are basically correct in what you are saying

Everything always shows good Gross Profit, but the net profit is what is key - I should have probably explained that a little better but didn't think it would cause such an argument!

 

[Ireheart]

Hmm £989.99 aka £990.00 It's tempting to bite the bullet