Mitsubishi used CEDIA Expo to formally reveal its pricing plans for the long-awaited first LaserVue 1080p DLP set, which is slated to ship at the end of the third quarter.
Max Wasinger, Mitsubishi sales and marketing senior VP, said at the show earlier this month that Mitsubishi is planning a staggered launch starting on the West Coast for the L65-90.
“We will stay close to home and probably preview it with three companies – one in Northern California, and a couple in Southern California. We want to make sure we get all of our ducks in a row, dial it in and then let it rip,” Wasinger said.
The product, which will have a 65-inch screen size, will launch at a $6,999 suggested retail, Wasinger said.
Wasinger said the product will be one of the first Mitsubishi products to fall under its new universal advertised pricing policy.
“They can sell it for what ever they want to sell it for. What they negotiate on the retail floor is between them and the customer. But they have to advertise it at the price that we have it priced at,” Wasinger said.
The policy also applies to pricing listed on the Internet and to shopping carts on the Internet, he added.
Mitsubishi is not positioning the LaserVue models in its top-tier Diamond series, Wasinger said.
“It’s its own category,” he stated. “It could eventually see broader distribution than Diamond series products, but to start we will be very selective. Because it is a new category you’ve got to get good exposure.”
The Mitsubishi LaserVue is said to deliver twice the colors of today’s HDTVs. The laser lighting, which replaces conventional Xenon or UHP lamps, produces a wider range of colors and shades than most flat-panel and projection sets. The light produces a strong intensity level, particularly in reds, and produces very clear images with an immersive depth of field. The laser is expected to last the lifetime of the product without replacement.
Mitusbishi pointed out that the technology uses half the operating power of similarly sized LCD TVs, and a third of plasma. They will also be 3D-ready.
Other features of the Laservue L65-A90 include x.v.Color, PerfectColor, four HDMI ports and wired IR input.
