Your “smart” TV is a dumb idea
That Hisense 55-inch 4K LED flat screen Smart TV with built-in Roku for $349 sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it?
This isn’t some “Black Friday” special or a “scratch and dent” fire sale, this is the regular price. At some retailers, you might even get a special offer — I’ve seen this model sell for as low as $299. Want to go even lower? Best Buy’s Insignia-brand model retails for a bit cheaper. Prefer a big-name brand? Samsung, Sony, VIZIO, and others all offer similar models in the same price range.
But if you buy one of these today, you might be disappointed. A new wave of Smart TVs is on its way from Xiaomi and Huawei later this year that are reported to cut that price by more than half. That’s right, these new 55-inch 4K LED Smart TVs might start to approach the $150 mark. At some point in the future, we could see a scenario in which the Smart TV comes free as part of a package of “cable” or “streaming” services. Smartphones use that pricing strategy today. Free Smart TVs might arrive as early as 2020.
Pretty cool, huh? Wouldn’t you like to pick up a new 55-inch flat screen for the price of a nice dinner and bottle of wine? Low-cost manufacturers are already seeing success in the Indian market; if the reports are true, the rest of the world doesn’t have long to wait.
