News

US Flat TV Sales Top The $3 Billion Mark In 2003 (1/4/2004)

Plasma and LCDTVs continue to captivate consumers' attention and wallets

According the latest report by Quixel Research and Home Theater Research Group (HTRG), the dollar value for flat televisions surpassed the $3B mark in 2003 and shows no signs of slowing down in the future. Flat TVs encompass products based on direct view LCD or plasma technology. "Consumers are fascinated by flat TVs, regardless of the screen size", comments Tamaryn Pratt, Principal at Quixel/HTRG. "Sales of all flat technologies increased 170 percent over 2002's sales", she adds. The newly published Plasma TV Market Review and LCDTV Market Review found that, compared to Q3, LCDTV sales grew 40 percent in the fourth quarter and plasma TV sales were up 25 percent for the same time period.

"We believe the flat-panel revolution is fully under way and our AQUOS LC-TV sales, of all screen sizes, will continue to grow at an astonishing rate," says Tony Favia, Senior Product Manager for Flat-Panel TV, at Sharp Electronics Corporation. "Consumers are now able to take advantage of the sleek, elegant design and place LC-TVs in rooms where in the past, traditional TVs didn't work."

The Plasma TV Market Review and LCDTV Market Review also found that the big money maker in 2003 was in the plasma television category. Over two-thirds of the value was generated by the plasma category, while over two-thirds of the volume was achieved by the LCDTV category. "Both of the flat TV categories were big winners in 2003 for Samsung and will continue to grow remarkably in the coming years," stated Jonas Tanenbaum, Senior Marketing Manager, Samsung Electronics America. "Clearly consumers have embraced flat TVs and with prices becoming more affordable purchasing a flat TV for the living room, kitchen or bedroom is now a reality."

The outstanding growth of the past two years has laid the foundation for continued double-digit growth in the coming years. Quixel/HTRG have forecasted sales of flat TVs to exceed $10B already in 2007.

www.quixelresearch.com
www.htrgroup.com