what bull lah. Nothing to do with the huge market. UK also so cheap and yet, UK has only double the population of Malaysia.

So the big question again is, why is Panasonic having such big price disparity between 42 and 50 inch panels.

No logic. 70% is way too high.

Furthermore, in developed markets like UK, there are more brands to choose from and consumers have a bigger choice. There are more than 10 major brands competing for 58 mil people

In Malaysia, only 5 or 6 strong brands.

And yet, these 5 or 6 can capture 25 million people

It's not only a matter of population size but also spending power - which is much higher per capita in UK than here. Due to this I suspect the market for big panels is much more active overseas than in Malaysia and this competition helps keeps prices lower. In Malaysia maybe 50" is considered premium class but in UK/US it is in moderate class.

Saw in SS3 PJ in a panasonic lorry roadshow, they selling the TH-P50X10K for 5699 with the freebies.

if can sell the camcorder separate at 1000 in forum, the price of the panel can be 4700

very worth it

I have tried selling it at RM860 with the freebie and a normal tripod. No response so far    Any taker?

This seems to be the best explanation, but even that, I believe it's doesn't make good business sense. If Panasonic sets such a high price premium, I would imagine that there is an opportunity for some other producers, e.g. Hitachi, to try to capture this 50" market by lowering their price premium.  Hence, the overall price for the 50" should equilibrate at a more reasonable level.

TC-P42X1/50X1 Reference Settings
Recommended 120 Hour Break-In settings for all 12G Panasonic models (ONLY to be used with Evangelo2's Break-in DVD or Thumbdrive Files!!!!!!!!)

*****Note: This procedure is designed to ensure the reference settings listed below provide maximum satisfaction. This procedure is NOT designed nor recommended to be used solely as Image Retention and/or Burn-in prevention.*****

Picture:
Picture Mode: Vivid
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 55
Color: 65
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Cool
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

--------------------------------------------------

Picture:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Contrast: 80
Brightness: 78
Color: 30
Tint: G8
Sharpness: 42
Color Temp: Warm
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

Service Menu Offsets

ADJUST MENU
SUB-BRT: -1

WB-ADJ MENU
R-DRV: -2
G-DRV: -30
B-DRV: -12
R-CUT: -33
G-CUT: -27
B-CUT: -24

Note: These offsets must be entered for both Color matrixes. You access the different matrixes by using a 1080i/p signal for the HD matrix and 480i/p signal for the SD matrix.

you want settings, you got settings!

It's not only a matter of population size but also spending power - which is much higher per capita in UK than here. Due to this I suspect the market for big panels is much more active overseas than in Malaysia and this competition helps keeps prices lower. In Malaysia maybe 50" is considered premium class but in UK/US it is in moderate class.
Sorry, don't get the point you're trying to make here.

CINEMA

Contrast - 80
Brightness - 50
Color - 36
Tint - (+6)
Sharpness - 50
Color Temp - WARM
Black Level Light
Everything else OFF

another settings for cinema mode, make sure the TV set has gone through minimum burn-in hour, otherwise the settings will drift:

I don't think it's just a matter of spending power, Malaysia's upper-income class certainly has comparable spending power to Western countries. Just compare the luxury car markets....

Let's not forget the HDTV market here is not as mature as the UK/US. Just compare HD rollout, BD penetration etc etc, so in a sense it's still a 'niche' market in terms of demand. Now couple with that the fact that the retail market here is also behind the curve comparatively....e.g. you can log onto buy.com, amazon.com and buy a TV on these sites for great prices due to their business model. This is also another mitigating factor in terms of competitive price pressure in the HDTV market.

ahh, no review? has been waiting for it, tempted to upgrade from 32" to 42" plasma

I note you said "Malaysia's upper-income class" and that's precisely true... it takes our upper-income class to match UK's middle-class. To take your analogy of luxury cars, compare the affordability of say a BMW or Benz in western countries compared to here. How long or hard does a Malaysian need to work in order to buy one of those cars compared to someone overseas? Same with HT equipment.

But yes, it's not only a matter of spending power. The whole economics thing is quite involved.
Agreed.