Gov't offers $40 on a digital TV converter. Would they be cheaper if there was no gov't coupon?

Question

The boxes were supposedly expected to hit the market at $40, so the government sets the coupon value at $40. Then the boxes hit the market at $60. Do you suppose the box manufacturers jacked up the price because they knew people would have a $40 coupon?

Answer 1

when they launched digital tv here (in the uk) the receivers were about £100 ($200)

you can now get better spec receivers for approx £15 ($30) at asda (walmart)

prices will drop as the market is flooded with newer models and higher stock levels.

wish the british government had handed out coupons to the average joe over here...

Answer 2

Do not know, but if you already have cable or satelite you will need a box.

Answer 3

The boxes were more than $40 from the start and the gov just wanted to give out coupons for those who could not afford the switch to dtv.

Answer 4

Let's hope the manufacturers and/or retailers have not "jacked up" the prices.  That would be collusion, I think.

I don't know about your area, but I'm in the Midwest.  Every time one of the stores gets a shipment, they sell out that same day.  I'm having a problem just locating one.  I want one that allows analog pass-thru.

Answer 5

No, the original estimates were in the $70 range.

And the boxes hit the market at $50 (Walmart) and $60 (LG model)

The main chips in the converters have a lot of computing power in them, designing them was not cheap. Companies do not design such things for free.

There are many more models that will be coming on the market in the next few months. This will force prices down and in a few months there might well be a $40 price ceiling until the coupons run out.

The US is not the first country to have "converters". Similar converters have been sold in the UK (called "freeview" boxes) without government coupons for quite a while. If you check their prices you will get some idea of how low the prices of US converters will drop.

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I see a guy in the UK says ~$30, good a estimate as any for the eventual price in the US.