Why are larger TVs more expensive?

[Vanquish-Storm]

To Joe Public Bigger = Better and More Power = Better

 

[Orionaut]

Raw material is not the only cost if you are a screen company and you make none in a year you will still pay out billions (or hundreds of million)

If you make 1 less screen it might save you £50 in raw material but your operating costs will still be the same.

I'm not just talking about raw materials,. I am talking about full Nth of a kind marginal "manufacturing" cost (though not of course including d&d, loan repayment, profit, etc ) but That's the same for any mass produced product.

Back in the day it used to be said that the cost of building a car was pretty much independent of size with the result that manufacturers tried to get people to buy the larger models that they could get away with making a larger mark up on. (That and try to get people to buy the extras. It used to be said that "The base model is nailed to the show room floor")

Of course at the extreme we have software products (Including music and videos)

They cost basically "Nothing" to manufacture for the nth of a kind unit, but really quite a lot to produce initially, so what should the sale price be and how do you determine it?

 

[Vern1961]

I'm not comparing premium vs non premium. I'm comparing SAME model, premiumness is a constant not variable, the variable is 40 inch vs 75 inch.

But 75" is a bigger, more cinematic picture than the 40" and you should expect to pay more for it!

 

[McBain]

Because bigger is better.

 

[exhashdotdot]

Bigger TVs need to generate more light to deliver the same flux as a smaller TV. Need a beefier PSU.

 

[SDK^]

Yep - lower yields as screen size increases.
Exactly the same for computer processors, larger memory sticks etc..

As things get bigger/faster the chances of a fault creeping in making it unfit to sell also increase.

 

[asim18]

Yep - lower yields as screen size increases.
Exactly the same for computer processors, larger memory sticks etc..

As things get bigger/faster the chances of a fault creeping in making it unfit to sell also increase.

Computer processors don't get bigger. They get denser. The more dense the more expensive/harder the cpu is to produce.
Same with memory sticks, they don't get bigger, they get denser lol.

Same with lcd panels. Apple pioneered high PPI displays, it wasn't cheaper to produce higher PPI displays, phones had crappy 320x240 screens for decades before Apple stepped in.

 

[asim18]

In fact within just a decade, CPUs have gone from 65nm to 14nm. That's getting much smaller, not bigger.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Having seen the physical lines they are produced on and worked for a panel manunfacturer it’s to do with many things.

Perceived value is a part of it, but sheer size is a huge consideration. Manufacture of certain panel sizes can only be done in some places. For example when we had a new 95 inch panel, it could only be made in Korea, whereas 55 and down were made in Slovakia and Korea. (Over simplified to make the point)

These put costs up significantly as production line time is limited and very valuable. So manufacturing fewer products with higher failure rates when you can pump out twice as many smaller panels makes a big difference.

Protecting a 95inch panel costs a lot more for shipping and some cheaper shipping options cease to be become viable with he larger box sizes used to accommodate the protection and weights required.

There are many more factors like uniformity and power of LEDs needed to ensure uniformity of different backlight types, bigger PSUs, more internal bracing and mounting points for the physical LCD panel to stop sagging of the panel in its case over time.

Hence why TV panels only have horizontal mounts as they are almost always mounted that way (normally only warranteed in that orientation). One of the reasons professional panels cost more is they have vertical and horizontal mounting points. Along with more/thicker protection layers in the LCD layup, wider operating temperature requirements etc.

LCD manufacture/design and logistics are a very complex system and not easy to explain specifics around pricing.

 

[Vern1961]

At the end of the day it's consumer market pricing/capitalism - you either splash £2k on the latest 4k mega-screen, or you get an old black and white tube TV for £20 from a flea market. (As the two extremes).

 

[.Lethal]

Even if a 70 inch TV cost the same to make as a 40 inch TV it would still be sold at a far higher price simply because it can be. Things will be sold for as much as enough people will pay for them...and enough people will pay more for larger TVs. The further up the market you go, the less the price reflects the production cost, on the whole.

I can't disprove this but I feel that competition from competitors would drive some of the price down if it was truly the same cost (which it isn't).

I believe bigger TVs still sell less because they are expensive.

Economy of sale, cheaper ones sell in larger numbers so are cheaper to produce.

 

[something daft already!!]

Its not how big it is but what you do with it.

 

[Randomface74]

answer = because people pay it

 

[mrk]

Computer processors don't get bigger. They get denser. The more dense the more expensive/harder the cpu is to produce.
Same with memory sticks, they don't get bigger, they get denser lol.

Same with lcd panels. Apple pioneered high PPI displays, it wasn't cheaper to produce higher PPI displays, phones had crappy 320x240 screens for decades before Apple stepped in.

But but.... iPhone 1st gen = 320×480 display...

The first smartphones with screens beyond that were Android phones by Samsung and ZTE according to the Wiki listing.

 

[sigma]

I think someone needs to learn some basic economics.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Oh, and if you think there is no co-operation between panel manufacturers, then in my opinion you are wrong.

 

[adolf hamster]

I believe bigger TVs still sell less because they are expensive.
Bigger = more expensive is something baked into our retail psyche.so retailers can also get away with charging more.

Also i believe it is physically challenging to produce uniform panels as they get bigger etc

and let us not forget that for many people, a 50"+ tv isn't always a practical option in terms of fitting it into your home, so it stands to reason that the really big tv's will sell less even if there isn't as much of a price differential.

at the end of the day bigger is bigger, all the production line equipment will be bigger, and as such you're going to need more floor space, more warehouse space, more lorries, etc etc.

on the 2 extremes of tv's you're going to get cost increases, either from the scale or the technology required in the manufacturing processes.

as for apple and high res screens, pretty sure they're not the current record holders in that regard

 

[LOAM]

Why does big cake cost more than a small cake? Why does a pint cost more than a half?

That is basically what you just asked.

 

[Werewolf]

I think someone needs to learn some basic economics.

And manufacturing and logistics.

You learn a lot about why certain things cost more the first time you try to carry say a 5 foot mirror home in your car or 8 foot lengths of sheet material.

Just the size of something like a bit of glass makes a huge difference how much it costs to handle and store, let alone the cost in materials or the difference in how much harder it is to get it to the same quality as a smaller bit (although at least with sheet glass if you've got an 8 foot square pane that has an imperfection, depending on type of glass you can at least cut it into smaller parts and make use of most of it).

 

[LabR@t]

what happens when we run out of pixels?