Nov 23, 2012
Despite a 7% on-year dip in global TV shipments, retail sales in North America have been steady, and unit shipments were up almost 3% in the third quarter of 2012 after posting small declines in the first half of the year, according to research firm DisplaySearch. The trend in the US market has been toward bigger and cheaper TVs, which is expected to be the focus during Black Friday on November 23, 2012.
"Procurement typically peaks at the end of the third quarter every year for the upcoming holiday shopping season in the US. Since many retailers are focusing on big opening sales during Black Friday and promotions during pre-Black Friday, inventory has been building overtime to a level that will satisfy the demand," observed researcher at DisplaySearch Paul Gagnon. "Based on the early promotional prices released ahead of Black Friday, retailers seem quite aggressive in starting the holiday season strong for TV sales."
Worldwide TV shipments have been falling for the fourth straight quarter throughout 2011 and 2012, as demand in Japan and Western Europe fell sharply. TV shipments in Japan were down over 70% on year as of the third quarter 2012 for the second quarter in a row, while Western Europe shipments fell more than 15% in the third quarter. In the third quarter of 2012, flat panel TV growth in emerging regions were lower than expected, especially in Asia Pacific, where the India TV market declined due to little retail set price erosion, said DisplaySearch.
DisplaySearch also noted that TV shipments in China grew over 13% on year in the third quarter of 2012 as set makers anticipated demand for TVs during October. Growth was also helped by the new energy efficiency rebate program that started in June of 2012. Both factors led China-based TV makers to increase production. As plasma TV shipments continue to decline, LCD remains the dominant flat panel TV technology, capturing a 16% on-quarter increase in unit shipments during the third quarter. However, overall LCD TV unit sales fell 1% on year during the time period. This marks three straight quarters of on-year shipment declines. Even with a growing share, the overall level of demand worldwide continues to fall in 2012, impacting LCD shipments. LED LCD TV shipments continue to climb, however, exceeding 70% of units and 80% of revenues for total global TV shipments.
Meanwhile, North America had the lowest LED and 3D shipment penetration of any region worldwide since these consumers are most interested in screen size and price. Large screen sizes also continued to have strong growth in the third quarter of 2012, with the average shipped TV size increasing more than 6% to 35.8-inch, the highest growth yet, added DisplaySearch.
Source：digitimes.com