According to the latest factory-to-dealer figures announced by the CEA, U.S. DTV sales "continue to soar" with about 3.8 million units having been shipped in the first half of 2005. (About 86 percent of these "DTV units" are HD-capable; the rest are capable of no more than 480p.) CEA reported that the factory-to-dealer numbers mark a 45-percent increase in unit sales, and a 23-percent increase in dollar sales, over the same period in 2004.
The CEA acknowledges in its statement this week that "seven million U.S. households are capable of receiving HD programming via either over-the-air or cable." Seven years into the DTV transition, this signifies that around 6.3 percent of today's 110 million U.S. households are "HD-capable." Some industry analysts recently put the number of U.S. households actually receiving HD programming on HD sets at somewhere over 4million)
The average price points since January 2005 have dropped more than $200, according to the CEA, bringing the average factory-to-dealer sales price for a DTV set (digital HD and SD) to $1,159. The CEA reported that every month in 2005 has seen an increase in sales (to dealers) over the previous month. The trade group predicts consumers will buy more digital sets than analog in 2005.
