North American HD TV Sales Grow About 60% in 4Q

By Danny King

North American high-definition television sales grew about 60% to 10 million units in the fourth quarter as Samsung and Sony gained market share at the expense of Sharp and other manufacturers, NPD Group unit DisplaySearch said.

The number of flat-panel units, which include liquid-crystal display and plasma display panel televisions, increased 56% last quarter in the U.S. and Canada, as TV makers produced fewer rear-projection TVs, DisplaySearch said.

HDTV sales have grown almost in lockstep with flat-panel unit growth. With the costs of making high-definition panels falling relative to standard-definition panels, HDTVs made up about 95% of LCD units, up from 86% a year earlier, according to Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV research. About 98% of plasma units were HD.

“Flat-panel TVs are almost the entire market,” Mr. Gagnon said. “The transition from rear projection is almost complete.”

Samsung, with a 13% flat-panel share in North America, maintained market leadership by almost doubling its LCD sales. Sony, with 11%, leapfrogged Vizio and Sharp to land in the No. 2 position by boosting promotions in U.S. big-box retailers during the holiday season, DisplaySearch said.

Matsushita’s Panasonic brand sold 39% of North American plasma TVs and the parent company had a 37% plasma market share worldwide, DisplaySearch said last week. Samsung had more than a 20% share of the plasma TV market both in North America and worldwide, while Matsushita, Samsung and LGE made more than 75% of fourth-quarter plasma sets sold in both North America and worldwide.

Many manufacturers switched their emphasis to LCD from plasma, whose 6% North American growth rate was dwarfed by LCD’s 64% increase. Worldwide, plasma unit sales jumped 62% as 1,080-resolution-line panels became more common.

“Plasma TVs are restricted to 40 inches or bigger,” Mr. Gagnon said. “They’ve kind of been rallied behind by just a few manufacturers.”

The jump in HDTV sales likely will continue into the first quarter.

Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association said U.S. customers bought about 2.4 million HD TVs for the Feb. 3 Super Bowl, while the National Retail Federation said standard- and high-definition television purchases for the game would be 3.9 million units, up from 2.5 million last year.