On Sunday night, I attended a Best Buy invitation-only event for Reward Zone members here in Atlanta. This event ran nationwide at select Best Buy locations in various markets. “Samsung LED” was the featured item at the event, which highlighted a promotion of 46″ and 55″ derivative 7100 series models sold exclusively at Best Buy. A Samsung representative was in attendance. However, it should be pointed out that while she characterized herself as a “Samsung Sales Rep,” she was most likely part of a sourced sales support effort-minimally trained-in order to cover all of the storefronts. I note this because I represented myself as a serious customer for the Samsung LED. I first talked to a couple of Best Buy salespeople who pretty much verbalized the Point-of-Purchase highlights attached to the end-cap display, discussed the new LED display (in general terms) and showed me the thin profile.

After their presentations were exhausted, I then asked each if this was literally an LED TV-specifically if the display was LED. I was assured it was LED. I then said I had been told by a friend that this was not really an LED TV but an LED-backlit LCD TV. Both salespeople assured me it was an LED TV. I was then referred to the Samsung rep, who also assured me it was an LED TV. As she opened her sales binder with talking points to show me “LED TV,” she mentioned that she had heard there were LCD TVs out there that were LED backlit as I described, but that was not the case with these Samsung models.

I realize Samsung and mainstream retail in general seem comfortable characterizing these models as simply “LED.” It is noteworthy, though, that both salespeople and a Samsung representative, probably all in innocent ignorance, hold the LED line even when directly questioned. While I have heard clarification, unprompted, from specialty and custom retailers for whom this is the second generation of LED-backlit Samsung LCD TVs, it is clear that there is definitely no message coming from training at the big-box level that these are not pure LED TVs. With the two words “Samsung LED” ubiquitous in advertising and heavy promotional activity at Best Buy, Sears and elsewhere in print and TV spots, the brand is clearly setting the tone for representation on the sales floor. When I talked with Sears salespeople as well as their telephone product support specialists about their main line 7000 series models, I was given the same response as at Best Buy: “Those are LED TVs.” As a technology to generate excitement at retail, has Samsung given up on LCD TV?