Consumers Want HDTVs This Holiday Season

About 25 percent of consumers plan on buying a new TV within the next six months, according to the NPD Group.

The "2009 TV Inventory Study" finds that more than 75 percent of those consumers say screen size is "extremely" or "very important" to their purchase.

Higher resolution was the second-most important feature, with 71 percent of consumers saying it was "extremely" or "very important."

The average screen size being considered by consumers, according to the study, is 40 inches. Twenty-five percent are considering 50-inch screens or larger.

"Demand for digital television remains strong months after the end of analog broadcasting," says Ross Rubin, NPD director of industry analysis. "Consumers are taking advantage of greater affordability and buying more TVs with smaller screen sizes. However, many still aspire [for] larger TVs with high resolution."

According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), about 20 percent of consumers plan to spend more on gifts this year compared to 2008. Forty-eight percent of CEA industry insiders believe deals this holiday season will be bigger than in 2008.

Parks Associates released a study that found nearly 50 percent of consumers didn't purchase a consumer electronics product in the first half of 2009. The study says, "U.S. consumers who are buying are taking longer to do so, spending more time researching the product, and then waiting for the right time."

This holiday season might be the right time. DisplaySearch recently increased its forecast for LCD TV shipments in North America from 31 million to 34 million units.