UPDATED 05:45 EDT / OCTOBER 04 2012

Black Friday Gets an Entire Season: Early Predictions for iPads, Ultrabooks and More

Black Friday is the busiest time of year for retailers, and the savviest time for consumers.  Even Microsoft’s taking strides to ready for Black Friday season (yes, it’s its own season now), prepping 8 pop-up stores ahead of their Windows 8 release.  And if you’re thinking of buying a new HDTV, laptop, iPad, smartphone or any other gadget, better wait for the holiday season to kick off, as these items are probably going to get a big price cut.

dealnews just published their fifth annual Black Friday predictions, which is based on analyzing the price drop of items this year, comparing it to the price drop last year, the price drop of items specifically on Black Friday last year and how much the price of items dropped in the previous years.  The Black Friday season, according to dealnews, is from mid-November until Cyber Monday after Thanksgiving.

So if you’re not in such a hurry to buy a new HDTV or laptop or whatever, and think you can wait for 50 more days or so, better check out dealnews’ predictions.

HDTV

A 42” 1080p LCD HDTV is predicted to sell for the low price of $189, which is not really surprising since Sharp’s 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV sold for only $200 last year in Best Buy.  If you think a 42” is too big for you, dealnews predicts that a  32″ 1080p LCD HDTVs will only cost $159.

Some prefer even bigger screens, and the expectations for a 47” and 55” are at $299 and $499, respectively.  But if you want to go all out, go for a 60” 1080p LCD HDTV, which dealnews predicts to cost $719.  But if that price is too steep for you, you can always go for a  60″ 1080p Plasma HDTV, which will probably cost around $569.

Laptops

Last year, 17” laptops featuring Core i7 quad-core CPUs, at least 8GB of RAM, and at least a 500GB hard drive, sold for $800 during Black Friday season.  And in February, the price dropped to $550, with dealnews’ conservative prediction price drop is at $525 since it already took a nose-dive drop earlier this year.

As for the 15” and 16” budget laptops, the price prediction is $179, only a dollar lower than last year’s price of $180.  They’re also predicting that the 15″ Ivy Bridge Core i5 laptop will cost only about $369.  As for the Ultraportable laptops, those that weigh below three pounds, they are expected to sell for $499 but is expected to drop even lower to $399 on Black Friday.

Apple iDevices

The iPad may be the most in demand tablet during the holiday season and dealnews predicts that the iPad 2’s starting price will be $399 while the iPad 3’s price will start at $450, about $100 lower than what Apple offers.

As for the iPhone, there’s a huge chance that retailers such as  Fry’s Electronics will offer iPhones at a much cheaper rate than Apple, just like last year when Fry’s offered a $25 discount on the iPhone 4S.  So for those wanting to buy an iPad or iPhone, keep your eyes peeled for retailers offering discounts on these items, as they’ll surely sell out fast.

Tablets

According to dealnews, the budget-friendly tablets including Nook Tablets, the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7 are highly unlikely to drop in price, but retailers might offer miniscule discounts during the holiday season.  With bigger tablets, there’s a huge chance that their price would drop to increase sales since people are more interested in the iPad.

As for e-readers, the older versions of these devices are the ones expected to have the most significant price cut.  The Kindle Keyboard 3G is expected to sell for $80, Barnes &  Noble’s Simple Touch with “GlowLight” is expected to fall to $69, and they are expected to offer a $25 discount for every NOOK purchase during Black Friday season.

Smartphones

dealnews predicts that popular Android smartphones’, such as the new Motorola RAZR line (including the MAXX HD, HD, and M), as well as the Samsung Galaxy S III, will drop to $0 with a network contract, so that’s great news for people wanting to replace their Android smartphone, and don’t mind being tied to a carrier for a couple of years.

The price drops sounds amazing, right?  But dealnews reminds shoppers that these are predictions, so the actual price of items during the Black Friday season may either be higher or lower.  (Of course, we’ll all be hoping that prices will be lower.)  So before the holiday rush starts, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the price of the items you’re interested in, and check out retail shops for their holiday price cuts.


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