/ 10.13.2010 12:00AM
3DTVs Being Purchased Without Glasses
SANTA CLARA, CALIF.:
DisplaySearch’s latest 3DTV market report is one of the first to take glasses
into account. The majority of 3DTVs on the market require shutter glasses to
view the format. DisplaySearch said sales of 3D glasses was low in Western
Europe, and that most countries failed to achieve a 1:1 sales ratio of glasses
to sets.
“This is particularly disappointing,” Gray said. “A healthy level would be
closer to two pairs of 3D glasses per TV, so it’s clear that these sets at best
are being chosen for future-proofing, and at worst it's an indication that
consumers cannot buy a premium set without 3D.”
3DTVs themselves are not selling like hotcakes, according to DisplaySearch. The company
pared back its 2010 3DTV shipment forecast by 200,000. Adoption has been
restrained by cost and lack of content, it said.
“While TV manufacturers have bold plans and a lot of new products, consumers
remain cautious,” said DisplaySearch’s Paul Gray, “Consumers have been told
that 3DTV is the future, but there still remains a huge price jump and little
3D content to watch.”
Folks in North America appear to be particularly cautious; shipments on the
continent are expected to total around 1.6 million. DisplaySearch’s Paul Gagnon
said TV manufacturers “have trained consumers to expect rapid price falls for
new technology, and consumers seem happy to wait a little.”
DisplaySearch generated the figures in its latest quarterly TV Design and
Features Report. The previous report, released in July, forecast a total
shipment number of 3.4 million for 2010. While it reeled in the 2010 estimate,
DisplaySearch now predicts much more rapid growth through 2014 than it did in
July, when it said 2014 3DTV shipments would total 42.9 million, or 37 percent
of all flat-panel TVs. The revised 2014 forecast is 90 million, or 41 percent
of all flat panels.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
See...
July 28, 2010: “DisplaySearch Expects
3.4 Million 3DTVs to Ship in 2010”
DisplaySearch forecasts 3.4 million 3DTVs will be shipped this year, with
shipments reaching 42.9 million in just four years.
July 22, 2010
: “CEA Now Expects 2.1
Million 3DTVs to Ship in 2010”
U.S. shipments of 3D displays is forecast to reach to 2.1 million this year.
Related revenues will top $2.7 billion
June 29, 2010
: “TV Purchases Expected
to Be 20 Percent 3D in 2013”
In-Stat’s predicting a major uptake for 3DTV sets. The research firm said today
that one in five TVs purchased in the United States in 2013 will be 3D sets.