In Depth

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

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.

Leave a comment

Comments 49

user-pic

This phrase challenges subscribers to respond freely and when not having limit if these responses fall within specified boundaries. This sentence involves a world-wide-web in-joke that does not surprisingly fit the topic.

user-pic

Thanks for your visiting this www.watchau.com/replica-pens/ online store.

user-pic

Amazing freakin blog here. I almost cried while reading it!

user-pic

Love all the opinions expressed here! How is everyone? Love how everyone expresses whatr they feel :)

user-pic

I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it's rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.. :)

user-pic

Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here :)

user-pic

You make blogging look like a walk in the park! I've been trying to blog daily but I just cant find writing material.. you're an inspiration to me and i'm sure many others!

user-pic

Love the blog here. Nice colors. I am definitely staying tuned to this one. Hope to see more.

user-pic

High quality info here! Keep up the great work. I love the feelings being expressed.

user-pic

Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here :)

user-pic

Hehe, u cant be serious??

user-pic

Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here :)

user-pic

Love all the opinions expressed here! How is everyone? Love how everyone expresses whatr they feel :)

user-pic

I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply back as I'm looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks

user-pic

Designer Luxury Handbags are fashion

user-pic

Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here :)

user-pic

I like your blog.

user-pic

High quality info here! Keep up the great work. I love the feelings being expressed.

user-pic

Nice!! Great Ifo. Great People. Great Blog. Thank you for all the great sharing that is being done here.

user-pic

As consumers find authentic discount price Replica Fashion Handbags ? You buy from a dealer who bought the stock in bulk from a wholesaler. Purchase a product in large quantities, you will receive a discount for larger purchases than for each individual case. The number of retailers continue to benefit from low cost, brand bags. Handbags buyers reduction are available on the search for legitimate designer bags at the best price. As a retailer who can offer to the public can be very lucrative.

user-pic

This is the best blog I've ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.

user-pic

Love all the opinions expressed here! How is everyone? Love how everyone expresses whatr they feel :)

user-pic

Way to focus and straight to your point, i love it. Keep up the work people. Dont let anyone stop us bloggers.

user-pic

Respect to author , some fantastic entropy.

user-pic

I like your blog.

user-pic

Great wordpress blog here.. It's hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care and see you soon

user-pic

Love all the opinions expressed here! How is everyone? Love how everyone expresses whatr they feel :)

user-pic

I like your blog.

user-pic

I agree with your thoughts here and I really love your blog! I've bookmarked it so that I can come back & read more in the future.

user-pic

Hey how are you doing? I just wanted to stop by and say that it's been a pleasure reading your blog. I have bookmarked your website so that I can come back & read more in the future as well. plz do keep up the quality writing

user-pic

Amazing freakin blog here. I almost cried while reading it!

user-pic

This is good info! Where else can if ind out more?? Who runs this joint too? Keep up the good work :)

user-pic

Neat blog layout! Very easy on the eyes.. i like the colors you picked out

user-pic

This is the best blog I've ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.

google rankings

user-pic

Hi there! I really love reading your blog today! Keep making great posts and I will come back every day to keep reading!

user-pic

This is the best blog I've ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.

user-pic

I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this post. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to start my own BlogEngine blog now.

user-pic

I love the way you write and also the theme on your blog. Did you code this yourself or was it done by a professional? I'm very very impressed.

ugg boots size 6

user-pic

wonderful info, thanks

user-pic

Hey how are you doing? I just wanted to stop by and say that it's been a pleasure reading your blog. I have bookmarked your website so that I can come back & read more in the future as well. plz do keep up the quality writing

user-pic

I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it's rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.. :)

user-pic

Interesting thoughts here. I appreciate you taking the time to share them with us all. It's people like you that make my day :)

user-pic

I needed the insight and here's where I grabbed it.

user-pic

This is the best blog I've ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.

user-pic

Nice blog.keep up the good work.

user-pic

I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it's rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.. :)

user-pic

Dairtel? And that nasty, squashed variety is kerned to tightly! That is certainly all I obtained.

user-pic

Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy.

user-pic

I d isagree with 75% of your opinions. And who appointed you judges?