Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) have joined hands with the purpose of making 4K monitors available at a price below $400, and they hope to achieve this before 2014. The plans and partnership were introduced it Taipei, at the annual industry event Computex.
Intel also plans all-in-one 4k desktops
According to the results of research conducted by Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), 1080p monitors are used by most people and a reduction in the price of 4K panels could persuade folks to upgrade by the end of the year.
The partnership with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) was the main focus of Intel’s announcement, but the firm will also work in partnership with other companies in the 4K market as well, including ViewSonic and TPV to provide budget monitors. With Samsung, the chip maker plans a 23.6 inch PLS monitors priced at $399; costing less than the PLS (plane-to-line switching) and IPS (in-plane switching) monitors currently on the market.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) also announced plans for manufacturing 4K-based all-in-one desktops with support from companies like PC OEM MSI that would fit in the budget of maximum buyers as they will cost as less as $999, which is just slightly more expensive than most 4K monitors. No specific release dates have been provided by Intel, but it is expected that the monitors and all-in-ones will be released this year.
Lack of content a drawback
Even if the price of 4K monitors does come down, it is not considered that beneficial for boosting the sales in the 4K market as not much 4k content is available. The cheap 4K monitor users will therefore have relatively limited content that maximizes the high picture quality. An average viewer of online video content might prefer visiting the webites such as YouTube, Netflix and few others. Creating 4K content was not affordable for the majority of producers on YouTube and majority of movies and TV shows by Netflix are not shot in 4K either, which minimizes the benefits of spending $400 on a monitor, according to News Factor.
Only selected original Netflix TV shows, movies and videos are being released in 4K. Most 4K cameras still cost more than $3000 ,and until they are made available at affordable, the benefits of buying a $400 4K monitor are limited.
