German consumers not motivated to buy new TVs based on 3-D, Internet connectivity, study finds

German consumers do not seem particularly interested in new television technologies like 3-D and Internet-connected TVs, new research from DisplaySearch reveals.

According to DisplaySearch’s “Global TV Replacement Study,” while sales of new TVs set a record in 2010 with 24.4 percent growth, new technologies did not appear to be the reason driving TV replacements.

Less than 1 percent of those interviewed for the study indicated 3-D was a reason to buy a new set, and just over 1 percent said the desire to own an Internet-TV played an important role.

While the new technologies hardly registered among Germans as a reason to replace their sets, they were more important in other parts of the world. For example, 6 percent of TV buyers in Indonesia said 3-D was a main reason for their purchase, while 5 percent of urban Chinese buyers cited the Internet as a major motivator.

“Some of the findings from this study show that advanced features are not strong drivers of new TV purchases compared to fundamentals like trading up in size or getting a flat panel TV,” said Paul Gray, director of European TV Research at DisplaySearch.

The DisplaySearch study examines TV replacement trends in more than a dozen markets worldwide and looks at the reasons why consumers are replacing their CRT televisions with flat screens.