Sales of LCD and plasma TVs showed a 53 per cent year-on-year increase in the US for the first quarter of 2008, with more than 7.5 million units sold.
This represents a 7 per cent increase over industry projections for the period.
While analysts in Japan have attributed a 35 per cent increase in flat-panel TV sales during the first half of June to the upcoming Beijing Olympics, industry executives in the US are being more cagey.
But what those attending the DisplaySearch TV Supply Chain Conference in San Diego did agree on was that despite the state of the US economy, the North America TV market remains robust – so far.
Paul Gagnon director of North American TV research at DisplaySearch, said the data also highlighted consumer preference for smaller LCD and plasma TVs.
“Smaller TV sizes are doing better than larger sizes, while the larger sizes seem to be under pressure from weakened consumer spending,” he said.
“For example, global shipments of 32” TVs exceeded our forecasts by 10 per cent, while all screen size categories above 40” fell short of expectations by 3 per cent or more.”
The summer holiday season is expected to present a major challenge for US retailers if the present economic trend continues, according to a majority of conference attendees.
That could translate into better deals for consumers, and those deals could remain even if the economy recovers over the next few years because panel manufacturers are adding more TV assembly lines.
Tag: plasma
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No mention of Olympic factor as US market for flat-panel HDTVs remains strong despite economic down-turn
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Japan's HD offerings boosted by launch of new VOD service
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The growing market for high definition television in Japan has received a further boost with the start of a VOD service by the country’s largest retail chain, Tsutaya.
Users will be able to download titles from home using the acTVila portal that is popular on Japanese plasma and LCD HDTVs.
They will have 48 hours to watch the films or TV shows as many times as they want.
The new service from Tsutaya, which counts 27.2 million members at its 1,330 branches across Japan, is the latest sign of the growing popularity of HDTV in the country.
The retailer plans to make deals with four Hollywood studios – Paramount, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and NBC Universal – to expand its available online library to 2,000 titles by the end of the year.
It added that high-speed fiber-optic connections are required for use of the service – which are currently available in about a quarter of Japan’s 48 million homes.
The service launched with downloads of the first season of hit US series “Heroes”, “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives”.
Each full length movie will cost 735 yen (about $7 USD) with other prices still to be announced
Tsutaya hopes that the new service will pull in more customers with higher disposable incomes in the 40-50 age range.
AcTVila was developed by Japan’s major television makers – Sharp, Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba and Hitachi – and is compatible with several dozen models of plasma or liquid crystal display sets. -
Results shows global LCD TV sales outstripped plasma TV by 8:1 for Q1 of 2008
Over 21 million LCD TVs were sold in the first three months of 2008 compared to 2.8 million plasma sets, according to a data compiled by research firm DisplaySearch.
The total number of TVs sold during the period was 46.1 million, up only 1% compared to sales in 2007.
The slow-down in sales is largely attributed to a weaker US economy.
Overall revenue rose 8%, however, to $24.8 billion USD, thanks to increasing sales of larger, more expensive LCD and plasma displays.
Aging CRT TVs were still the best selling, with 22.1 million sold, with LCD closely behind at 21.1 million.
Plasma and rear projection televisions had sales of 2.8 million and 134,000 sold respectively.
Year-over-year CRT sales were down 21%, LCD up 45%, plasma up 20% and RPTV down 79%.
In terms of brands, Samsung led in revenue for the 9th straight quarter, with an impressive 39% year-over-year growth
Flat panel TV demand is expected to be strong overall in 2008 and manufacturers are to use smaller screen sizes and low-cost models to stimulate demand among price conscious consumers.
This strategy is also expected to be adopted to maintain growth in mature markets, particularly as many consumers look to buy their second or third flat panel TV.
In terms of brand, Samsung was the global brand share leader in revenues for the ninth straight quarter, improving to more than 20% for the first time on robust 39% year-on-year growth.
Samsung also had the top ranking on a unit basis. Sony was ranked second on a revenue basis for the third straight quarter, declining about a point to 13.2% revenue share after a very strong Q4 performance.
LGE remained in third place, leveraging a second place unit share position to offset lower ASPs.