Plasma manufacturers getting less for more
Posts with tag Displaybank
Displaybank says LCD to reach 66% of TV sales by 2015
In case you hadn't heard, CRT sets are on their way out, and LCD is the display technology that will replace them in popularity. According to to market research firm Displaybank, the LCD portion of TV shipments will grow from 38% this year to 66% by 2015. By our math, that's close to 2-out-of-3. Chalk that growth up to a blanketing of the market -- LCD already has the less than 50-inch market pretty well sewn up, and is already making inroads to larger sizes. We love us our plasma (even at less than 50-inch sizes), but on the showroom floor LCD's are compelling for many consumers. No matter how you slice it, consumers are going to benefit -- put the Displaybank numbers against DisplaySearch numbers on market value for LCD's, and you can see that LCD prices are going to come down even further.CCFL backlighting is still in
Cuz all the cool kids are doing it for at
least the next year or so, much unlike the mullet. Despite all the hubbub about LEDs, CCFLs are likely to
continue backlighting your LCD panel, even as manufacturers ramp up production to meet demand. When will light emitting diodes and flat fluorescent lamps become a part of the flat screen TV landscape? Who knows but Kumho Electric isn't looking to find out. I still wanted my HDTV t-shirt though.
Flat panel price wars: Are Pioneer & Hitachi big enough to sit at this table?
Size does matter, at least if you're
an LCD manufacturer. While 2005 may have ended without the oversupply and price crash many had predicted, as LG &
Samsung continue to add
production capacity prices will (someday) drop, and smaller manufacturers may be squeezed out. The outlook for
plasmas is similar, with Matsushita (Panasonic) currently holding one-third of the market, and also with plans to expand production rapidly over
the next few years. What can smaller manufacturers do? A few things, like partner up. For a company like Pioneer, maybe it's time to start focusing on features, not price and volume. They could start by offering 1080p TVs that accept 1080p inputs (oh wait, they already do that), provide in-home calibration, longer warranties, Ethernet ports for streaming, something. Maybe by the end of this year they'll be willing to throw in an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player just to differentiate themselves.
The race to dominate 1080p
While the question of whether or not next year will be the year for high definition to take over, it will definitely
be remembered as the year 1080p hit the scene. With several different manufacturers lining up plasma and LCD displays,
Displaybank took a quick look at
the competitors.From 40" to 102", "full" HD will be a big marketing buzzword in 2006. I predict we will see a $15k 1080p HDTV PS3 bundle from Gamestop at some point. It will be madness.
