Ups and downs…
Monday, 25th June, 2012In total, worldwide TV shipments fell almost 8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012, the steepest rate of decline since Q2 of 2009.
“Soft demand and cautious expectations about the upcoming year in many parts of the TV supply chain have led to a slowdown in shipments” stated Paul Gagnon, NPD DisplaySearch Director of North America TV Research. “Key component prices, such as LCD panels, are not expected to decline much in 2012, and many brands are concentrating on improving their bottom line. Both of these trends will contribute to slowing unit volume among a price conscious consumer market.”
Whereas LCD screens are still more popular, the biggest loser out of large-screened televisions was plasma TV where shipments continued to decline, falling 18% in the first quarter of 2012 as compared to the same period last year.
However, the number of TV sets with Internet connectivity increased with approximately 27% of TV sets shipped worldwide being fitted with the technology. All together, 46% of sets had networking capability. In a good example of how Internet entertainment is developing quickly in emerging markets, China followed closely behind Western Europe with 32% of sets shipped having Internet functionality.
