Sony and Samsung Escalate the 4K War at Best Buy

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By Pete Pachal2014-05-01 17:00:15 UTC

Samsung and Sony are escalating their fight for the attention — and dollars — of TV buyers. Both electronics giants will open up special areas in Best Buy stores to showcase 4K TVs and other home entertainment products.

Sony arguably has home-field advantage, given its long legacy as a premium TV manufacturer. Samsung, however, is the No. 1 TV vendor in the world, and this new partnership can only help cement that position.

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Both manufacturers will have their own "experiences" in select Best Buy stores. The rollout begins in mid-May, due to be completed by end of summer.

The Sony Experience, coming to 350 stores, will let customers interact with Sony-specific areas and displays. Touch screens will explain Sony's proprietary TV technologies — such as Triluminous displays, which can often produce vibrant color — and people will be able to directly compare 4K footage versus HD, and Blu-ray video versus regular TV. Sony "experts" will be on hand to answer any questions.

Similarly, the Samsung Entertainment Experience will be in about 500 stores. It will have Samsung-trained Best Buy employees to walk customers through things like curved TV and Ultra HD models (Samsung's name for 4K). The displays will feature Samsung audio products as well.

In both cases, the new retail experience features only home entertainment gear. Samsung already has its own Samsung Experience in many Best Buy locations to specifically showcase mobile devices. Sony, which also sells phones and tablets, doesn't have a comparable mobile partnership.

"We're going to emphasize televisions," Margaret Kairis, Sony's vice president of consumer sales operations, told Mashable. "We'll be highlighting 4K solutions for consumers. A consumer can explore TV, Blu-ray content — whatever they watch at home, we want them to be able to experience that within this space."

Both experiences have online components, too: BestBuy.com visitors will be able to enter dedicated Sony and Samsung sections of the site, with similar explainers of tech and home theater concepts.

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Topics: 4k, best buy, blu-ray, Marketing, sony, Tech, Television, Ultra HD