Samsung puts a price on its 85-inch Ultra HDTV

Samsung's Ultra HDTV set, with its iconic style revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), will be priced in Korea at the equivalent of AU$36,000.

They say “give an inch, take a mile”. In Samsung’s case, it’s “give an inch, add US$12,000”. The Ultra HD S9 with “gallery design”, which wowed the crowds at CES — even winning a Best of CES award from our US CNET colleagues — has received pricing for its native Korea.

According to a Korean news-wire release, the 85-inch TV is up for pre-order for 40,000,000 won — around US$37,800 or AU$35,800 at the current exchange rate.

While LG had priced its Ultra HDTV quite reasonably in Australia, Sony matched its US pricing of $25,000. This means that the extra inch on the Samsung seems to be worth US$12,000.

We jest, of course — we haven’t seen any pricing for US or Australia, so we’re merely extrapolating, and it’s often a bit oranges and apples. Remember that LG is selling its 84-incher locally for less than its asking price in Korea. Also, there’s a lot more going on in the Samsung offering than just the extra inch — quad-core processing, iconic design, etc.

But if there’s one thing we know, the pricing on Ultra HD is still seen as the biggest barrier to its acceptance as a viable “next” technology (the second being content), and while this is certainly a premium product, it feels like pricing on UHD is going up, not down.