Cheap sets on the news

[bgadow]

In too many cases there is only one level of quality available and that level is "junk". Consumer electronics and small appliances are areas where this is largely true. People as a rule don't seem to recognize higher quality in these things so they buy as cheap as they can. Wal*Mart, for its part, buys in enormous, unheard of volumes. More than anyone else could ever have thought of. They want prices as low as possible so they can sell more (profit margins are low, so they need volume) and they will buy from whomever can deliver the high volume at lowest cost. On something like a toaster or a boombox it is very easy to skimp. Of course, there was always junk on the market. 30, 40 years ago you had more choices. A small town might have 3 or 4 places that sold toasters (an appliance store, a dime store, a hardware store, a Western Auto, etc) and these were all low-volume outfits. An individual small-town store might sell fewer toasters in a year than a single Wal*Mart would sell in a day. But the individual store had a higher profit margin on the item and might work harder to sell it, with store displays, print ads, etc. There would be a friendly clerk who would steer you to the toaster aisle and explain all the features, and try to upgrade you from the $10 GE to the $60 automatic Sunbeam.

Do I remember right that Samsung is advertising it is the #1 selling TV in America now?