Despite a weak U.S. economy and rising energy prices that directly impact consumer budgets—or maybe because of them—TV shipments grew by 26 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, and jumped 28 percent from last year (to more than 9.3 million units in North America), according to analyst DisplaySearch. This annual growth is the strongest on record since DisplaySearch began tracking TV shipments in 2004.
Plasma shipments, somewhat surprisingly, rose at a higher rate than LCD from the first to second quarters (35 and 30 percent, respectively). Plasma’s growth was noticeably enhanced by big-box brand Vizio’s first shipments of 32-inch units, according to DisplaySearch, although 32-inch LCD screens by various brands also fared well. More than 80 percent of the shipments are HD units.
Over the course of the past year, however, LCD unit shipments rose by 52 percent (nearly 7.5 million)—with much of the growth coming in smaller sets of 19, 22 and 32 inches.
Samsung was the top brand name with a record quarterly shipment share of more than 19 percent of all unit shipments in North America.
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