Over 25 years, the dominant driver of falling TV prices was industrial scaling of LCD panel substrate production—moving to much larger 'mother glass' generations—plus process improvements (fewer masking steps, higher yields, fast single‑drop filling). Those engineering and factory‑economics changes reduced per‑panel equipment and labor costs and produced dramatic consumer price declines per screen‑area and per‑pixel.
— Understanding how substrate‑scale economics (mother‑glass Gen moves) collapse consumer hardware prices matters for debates on industrial policy, measurement of manufacturing health, trade strategy, and the political economy of consumer inflation.
Tyler Cowen
2026.01.09
85% relevant
Cowen links to 'How did TVs get so cheap?', which directly maps to the existing story about panel‑substrate (mother‑glass) scaling and factory economics reducing TV prices; the linklist is a direct pointer to that explanatory pattern and signals the topic's renewed policy/business relevance (supply chains, manufacturing policy).
msmash
2026.01.08
78% relevant
The article documents hardware and process innovations (Hisense’s RGB LED, TCL’s reformulated quantum dots and new X11L/QM9K models) that are narrowing performance gaps and threaten premium pricing—directly continuing the same industrial story that substrate/factory scaling and manufacturing choices drive price and capability compression across TV makers.
msmash
2026.01.08
100% relevant
The article cites the shift to Gen 10.5 mother glass (116×133 in), yield rises from ~50%→90%, masking‑step reductions and the 'one‑drop fill' innovation as the concrete mechanisms.