U.S. HDTV homes to reach 52 million by 2008

The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) reports that high-definition television is fast becoming a staple of the American living room.

Based on data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the DEG says more than 30 million U.S. households already have at least one HDTV set. An estimated 4.5 million HD sets were sold in the first half of 2007, 50 percent more than in the first six months of 2006.

The CEA’s data predicts that 16 million HDTVs will be sold by the end of 2007, bringing the U.S. household total to more than 52 million at the start of the new year.

That said, the data found that DVD player sales, at 14 million units, were flat for the first half of 2007. Since the format’s launch in spring 1997, consumers have purchased about 210 million players. About 90 million U.S. households have at least one DVD player, and the DEG estimates that 57 percent have more than one.