By Davis Freeberg
I noticed an interesting gimmick/promotion by Spatialight (Ticker HDTV) for their new LG 71SA1D launching this fall. They are offering a discount on this very sexy 71″ Rear Projector big screen TV for any shareholder of record as of Oct. 28th 2005. While their press release contains very little details on pricing or the formula for the discount, I’ve got to admit that this is an interesting way to promote a stock and sell some high end televisons at the same time. LG Electronics hasn’t released the retail pricing on the new TV, but you can bet that they will cost a pretty penny. Brillian is planning on launching a similar 65″ set for about $8,000. LG Electronics does currently offer a 62″ rear projector for about $3,500, but it only has half the resolution of the new 71SA1D.
While I don’t think I would put down any serious money to get the discount, it might be worth spending $4.50 a share, if you are in the market for a new big screen TV. Of course you may want to consult your tax advisor because I have no idea how one would declare this type of dividend, but I bet that there is a formula somewhere. I doubt that many shareholders will opt in for the discount and it’s hard to imagine that this would have a serious impact on HDTV stock ex-dividend date, but I do think that it’s interesting to note that the company is up about 7% since they announced the discount.