According to this New York Times article, Signs of a Glut and Lower Prices on Thin TV's, prices are due to drop on flat panel TV's over the next twelve months due to increases in production capacity by manufacturers.
According to several manufacturers and analysts, the prices for L.C.D. flat-panel TV's will drop in the new year, falling by as much as 30 percent by the end of 2005. The prices of plasma flat-panel TV's are also expected to fall significantly.
That is not a message that the electronics retailers want to be heard during the holiday shopping season. They are hoping that the price cuts that have already occurred will spur more people to buy flat-panel sets, and many are already offering discounts to increase traffic in their stores.
"We do not want to talk about predictions of price drops," said Lee Simonson, the director of Best Buy's television division. "We want people to buy now."
Of course they do. But according to people quoted in this article, a $4,500 set could be going for $3,100 next year (and ~$2,200 in 2006). So maybe instead of buying that TV for this holiday season, you should give an IOU, or something else, and save the TV purchase for next year — even if the Consumer Electronics Association says, "a plasma television is the most desired holiday gift this season."