Laser TV

$1,000?

$1,800?

$5,000?

What will Laser TV actually cost? Nobody knows, but everyone seems to have an opinion. Mitsubishi has been vague about the details on its forthcoming launch of its Laser TV brand, which debuted at January’s 2008 Consumer Electronic Show. The exact release date is even a mystery. Here’s what we do know:

Mitsubishi’s Laser TV will be released in 2008.

“It’ll be competitive with flat panel prices.” Quote from Frank DeMartin, General Manager of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America.

“Large screen laser television is expected to be competitively priced with plasma television in sizes of 52 inches and larger.” Quote in The New York Times from Marty Zanfino, former Director for Product Development of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America.

Mitsubishi has been surprisingly tight-lipped on the particulars of its Laser TV. The speculation about Mitsubishi’s silence has ranged from a corporate attempt to gauge the market reaction to a “premium” alternative to LCD and PDP, or simply that a fixed MSRP has not been set. Mitsubishi is not a rookie in emerging technology markets, so perhaps it has learned not to offer too much, too soon. Your average consumer might not recognize Mitsubishi as a leading innovator in TV technology, despite having invented the first rear-projection television and the first complete HDTV in the U.S. market.

On the other extreme, Arasor, the blustery Australian optoelectronic chipmaker, has made some bold and premature predictions relating to the price and availability of Laser TV, much to the dismay of disappointed investors and consumers. Arasor does not manufacture televisions, but it promised too much, too soon, in a feverish quest to attract shareholders and funding for its Laser TV technology. This article details the strained relationship between Arasor and Mitsubishi, which wasn’t invited to Arasor’s 2006 public demonstration of a Laser TV, even though a modified Mitsubishi TV was used. We still don’t know if Mitsubishi’s Laser TV will be using Arasor chips or laser technology from Novalux, a laser manufacturer recently purchased by Arasor.

Mitsubishi is keenly aware that the LCD and plasma markets have matured, and that pricing for these units have fallen to very affordable levels. Laser light may be technically superior in all aspects of brightness, color gamut, etc., but Laser TV will have to be at least competitively priced to succeed, something Mitsubishi appears to be focused on. Much of Mitsubishi’s hush-hush campaign may be linked to laser component manufacturing delays and Arasor’s overeagerness. No emerging technology has the luxury of being competitively priced right out of the gate, so Mitsubishi may be stimulating just enough interest its Laser TV (nee tidbits of information) to keep us interested, while ironing out its pricing strategy and laser component licensing deals.

It takes more than just innovation to succeed in today’s market, and the glitzy debut of Laser TV at the Moon Nightclub at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas may be Mitsubishi’s way of telling us it is ready to be step into the limelight. Laser TV is the new standard in HDTV, however, Mitsubishi may be forced to, at least initially, target only to the high-end market with a $5,000 (my guess) 65-inch unit debuting this fall. This may be followed up in early 2009 by a smaller model costing half as much. As laser engines become incorporated as the preferred light sources in cell phones, movie theaters, navigation screens, projectors, and televisions, classic economies of scale will cut costs, and fuel demand, beckoning the age of laser based monitors.

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