Luxury watching (How to spend half a million pesos on a Samsung TV).

Byline: Elias B. Guerrero, Jr.

A few months ago, representatives from Samsung Philippines flew to Cebu to host a private party in an upscale seaside resort. Their guest list was short but it was a respectable slice of the Queen City's high life - scions of industry leaders and their wives, a couple of young, successful entrepreneurs and the familiar gaggle of prominent personalities one usually reads about in the local society pages.

The aim of this little get-together was for Samsung to introduce their latest 3D TV, the Series 9 9000, and perhaps even accept a few orders. At 55 inches across and a mere 8 millimeters thin, the Series 9 9000 (or C9000, for short) is one of the largest and thinnest flat screen TVs in the market today. And with a price tag of roughly half a million pesos each (P549,900 to be exact), it is easily one of the most expensive.

Samsung's Tupperware-party strategy was an elegant approach. Indeed, what better way to sell an expensive TV than in an informal setting, away from the triteness of a home appliance center …