TV Set Purchases Up, But 3Q Should See 'Correction'

TV sets

Television usage may be a question mark going into the new season -- but this isn't the case with the purchase of actual TV sets.

Worldwide sales of television sets continued to climb in 2010 -- up 26% in the second quarter of this year to 56.2 million units -- this according to data published in the DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report. The gain was 2% up over the first -quarter 2010 numbers.

Now the bad news: in North America -- the second-largest worldwide region -- there was a 3% drop, after a 1% decline in the first quarter of 2010. Better news came from other developed markets such as Japan, which witnessed a sharp 56% year-over-year second-quarter hike.

Developing territories such as Latin America shot up 70% to 7.3 million TV units shipped in the quarter. China's growing LCD TV market was at a 31% gain. But that uptick was way down from its triple-digit percentage growth a year ago. Europe witnessed a slight rise in TV set sales during the period because of the World Cup event in South Africa.

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But the report says more bad news is coming -- especially for the third quarter. A buildup of inventory will lead to an end-of-the year "correction."

"The results for TV shipments in Q2 were definitely mixed, as not all regions benefited from external stimuli like the World Cup or digital TV transitions in regions such as Europe," stated Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV market research for DisplaySearch.

"At the same time, many manufacturers are rapidly adopting advanced technologies like LED, 3D and Internet connectivity, all of which will serve to increase the average price," notes Gagnon. "However, as consumers still seem reluctant to spend, this hard shift in mix could be contributing to slower growth in markets like North America."

Among individual brands, Samsung continues its dominance as the biggest player -- holding a 24.4% share and witnessing 20% growth during the quarter. LGE is next at 14.1%, with a 9% hike during the period. Sony is in third place with a 12.8% share, up 39%. Panasonic has a 9% share, 36% higher than a year ago.

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