According to a new Leichtman Research study, one-third of all Americans now own an HDTV, putting market penetration at an all-time high. The number has doubled from 2006’s figures.
Just over 22 percent of all US homes purchased a new HDTV in the last 12 months, and about 48 percent spent over $1000 USD for their new TV.
“About 40 million U.S. households now have at least one HDTV set, and LRG forecasts that this number will double over the next four years,” noted Bruce Leichtman, President and principal analyst of Leichtman Research. “While more people than ever before have HDTV sets, educating consumers on HD programming remains an issue.
HDTV prices, whether they be for DLP, LCD or plasma screens, have been dropping exponentially over the past two years and 42 inch screens with full 1080p HD resolution can be found for under $1000 depending on the brand.
The study also says that 33 percent of current HDTV owners own more than one HDTV and that of the 67 percent that don’t, 30 percent are planning to purchase a second TV in the next year.
Result for: hdtv sets
In a panel discussion Tuesday at the HD3 conference in Century City, industry figures with a stake in the Blu-ray Disc format raised concerns over how the economy will hit the Blu-ray format over the holidays. Now that the format war is over and a lot of money has been put into promoting Blu-ray through retailers, the format’s backers had hoped for a strong performance this holiday season.
“The economy is the biggest challenge, because there are just so many pieces to the Blu-ray puzzle that consumers face,” said Lori MacPherson, GM of domestic home-entertainment at Disney. “You need the high-definition television set, you need the player, you need the cables, you need the software…” MacPherson still believes Disney’s seasonal slew of new releases and catalog titles in the Blu-ray format will help move consumers towards the format.
“The economy is hitting everybody,” said Danny Kaye, executive vp research and tech strategy at Fox. “But we still look forward to a great fourth quarter.” There is good news on the horizon however for high-definition video equipment. “I know the economy is tough right now, but the manufacturers are really bringing down the price of their HDTV sets,” Paramount vp marketing Chris Saito said.
Blu-ray player prices are falling but not as fast as many consumers would like. The disc sales themselves also present a problem, since new DVDs retail for around $15, whereas Blu-ray releases go for around $25. “We’re all constantly looking at (disc) pricing,” Sony vp business development Rich Marty said. “What it amounts to is that we’ll wait until after the fourth quarter and see how it goes.”
[More]>>
Result for: hdtv sets
Sony has followed through on its promise that it would become the first studio to premiere a major motion picture rental on a networked video hub before it premieres on physical media.
Owners of Sony BRAVIA HDTV sets with Internet Video Link will soon have the option to rent Hancock , almost a month before its stated DVD release date. The options include a 720p HD version as well as a 480p version for users with slower Internet connections.
The rentals are similar to those of iTunes in which the rental is yours for 24 hours of unlimited viewing. The price however is a totally different story. Apple and VUDU charge $6 USD for new-release 720p titles while the new Sony titles will cost $10 USD.
Interestingly, the electronics giant added that they will be sending free copies of Hancock on Blu-ray to any user who rents the movie and signs up online. Pretty good deal if there are no other catches.
