Samsung 3D Eyewear Price Cut Meant to Make 3D Investment More Consumer-Palatable

Samsung announced a price cut and a promotion on 3D glasses that will outfit a family of four with the gear for $200. The moves announced Wednesday deal with a major point of consumer resistance to 3D TV. The company said it’s slashing the price of its $129 SSG-3100GB active-shutter 3D glasses below $50 May 1 and it will include two pairs at no charge with each Samsung plasma and LED-based LCD 3D TV bought starting April 24. No end date was announced for the promotion. The promotion applies to TVs that aren’t bundled with a starter kit including two pairs of glasses, a Shrek 3D Blu-ray collection and a voucher for Megamind 3D, the company said.

The actions are part of an aggressive campaign by Samsung to eliminate barriers to 3D viewing as passive TVs using inexpensive polarized glasses hit the market. The glasses that Samsung made the announcements about use CR2025 coin batteries, which the company said will operate for 70 hours. Replaceable batteries eliminate the need to recharge, a selling point touted by LG in its current 3D TV commercials, which show a recharging cord attached to glasses from a competing brand.

The price cut “is a very positive move,” Ami Dror, chief strategy officer at XpanD, told us by email. He said XpanD won’t match the price of the Samsung glasses, because XpanD’s $129 glasses work with any brand, a premium feature that sets the glasses apart from others. Still, “I'm sure that the prices of everyone, including XpanD, will have to change,” Dror acknowledged.

XpanD and Panasonic last week announced a standard for 3D glasses, M-3DI, that’s designed to bring compatibility to 3D TVs, computers, home and cinema projectors (CED March 29 p4). Samsung didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment on the standard and whether the company plans to offer M-3DI-compatible glasses. Dror told us, “We believe that Samsung and Sony will join M-3DI soon as this is the only way to drive full HD 3D.” Sony didn’t respond to requests for comment, either.

At its line show in New York last month, Samsung launched a series of 3D glasses at the opposite end of the spectrum: one-ounce, $219 models that are prescription-ready. The company also introduced a $199 top-hat-style wireless charger that can refuel four pairs of glasses at the same time. All 2011 Samsung 3D glasses are Bluetooth models, the spokesman told us. Bluetooth eliminates ergonomic issues of infrared glasses, which require a direct line of sight to a TV to preserve a continuous 3D image.