UK buyers to shun 3D TVs as prices remain high

UK customers will give 3D TVs a wide berth for up to three years as high prices hamstring the technology.

Speaking at the IFA exhibition in Berlin, LG's global communications manager, Ken Hong, said: "People may pay 5 per cent more for a 3D set but not a premium of 20 per cent."

Mr Hong said that while a significant percentage of consumers had made the decision to upgrade to high-definition sets, the move to 3D-set purchases would only happen when a replacement set was needed. In that time, prices will fall and 3D will become standard on new sets rather than an option. "We'd like all of our TVs on sale in the UK to include 3D as standard in two to three years," he said.

"There is no question in our minds that 3D will stick around, whether consumers seem to want it or not. We think this market will develop like the change from black-and-white TV to colour. When colour TV first emerged people thought it was just eye candy."

LG has been demonstrating its range of interactive sets at IFA and announced that, in partnership with Sharp and Phillips, it would produce a common platform that will enable application developers to produce apps that will work across all three brands. This will mean a wider choice of apps on TVs for consumers to choose from.

"People will expect smart features in every TV. That means the ability to link to phones, keyboards and tablets, and there must be a user-customisable interface, not that different from a smartphone.

"It will be difficult to reach this until we get app developers involved, and for that we need to get to a single software development kit so developers can create apps that will run across a number of TV brands," said Mr Hong.

Read more coverage from IFA 2011.