TVs sales continue to decline
TV makers worldwide saw their revenues slide 12 percent in the last year, according to a report set to be released Tuesday by DisplaySearch.
A total of 43.3 million TVs were sold worldwide in the first quarter of this year, a 6 percent drop compared to the same quarter a year ago, and prices dropped 6 percent, too, according to the Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.
Even Samsung, which collects more money in its coffers for TVs than any company in the world for the past 13 straight quarters, saw its revenues drop 8 percent since the same time last year. But it still held its lead in the industry, maintaining a 21.5 percent share of dollars spent on TVs worldwide.
The biggest shake-up in the last quarter came from LG Electronics which, at 2 percent growth from a year ago, was the only one of the top five manufacturers to see an uptick in revenues. It was able to leapfrog Sony into second place, claiming 13.3 percent of the TV market. Sony garnered 13.1 percent, followed by Sharp with 7.2 percent, and Panasonic with 6.1 percent.
Panasonic appeared to have the most trouble in the most recent quarter. It saw revenues from TV sales drop 22 percent over the last year.
These kinds of slumping progress reports from all sectors of the technology industry have become practically commonplace. Declining revenues are particularly a problem in consumer electronics as shoppers are finding themselves with less discretionary income.
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
So what happens when flatscreens hit market saturation? We move back to a market where the only people buying TVs are people upgrading on size, people who have a new room they want a television in, or people who need to replace a broken television. It's amazing how taking out your primary source of sales results in reduced demand.
Now I know this is an overly simplistic view, and the economy plays a big part, as well as other factors that only people in the industry keep track of. Still this is kind of an inevitable moment in time for this market.
The 120hz TV I purchased actually costs *more* now at retail stores. I don't expect it to dip back down to the price I paid until next Christmas.
The title of this article might as well be "Bunnies are furry and they hop".
Seriously there a number of factors with the economy probably being the primary one. Also what vikinzer said about market saturation and replacing units.
- by sanjayb May 26, 2009 9:19 AM PDT
- I probably won't be back in the TV market until OLED's are mainstream and cheap. So I guess I will be sitting out for another 5 years or so??
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