LCD TV Market Grows 14%, Defies Recession

In its race against plasma, LCD TV is gaining momentum toward being consumers’ preeminent flat-panel TV choice.

The category’s value increased 14 percent to $22.7B in 2008 over 2007 results of $19.9B, according to Quixel Research. It also jumped 7 percent in quarter-to-quarter (Q/Q) sales for Q4 2008 with $6.3B.

Not bad, especially during a recession.

The news isn’t all good for the LCD category, however, says Quixel’s Tamaryn Pratt. “Rapid ASP declines in all screen sizes pushed year-to-year values down 12 percent, foreshadowing a tough future as far as LCD TV revenues are concerned.”

Meanwhile, a study by DisplaySearch shows LCD shipments falling year-to-year for the first time ever, dropping 2 percent from 8.9 million units in Q4 2007 to 8.7 million in Q4 2008. LCD shipments did increase 9 percent quarter-to-quarter.

LCD's current top foe, plasma, has had some setbacks lately with Pioneer and Vizio announcing plans to halt plasma production.

The growth of the LCD category may be catalyzed by salespeople. According to J.D. Power and Associates, electronics salespeople push LCD over plasma to their customers by a three-to-one margin.

Whatever the reason for LCD's traction, it is seeing its strongest quarter-to-quarter momentum in the 40-inch and 42-inch screen size segment which is up nearly 40 percent for Q4 2008. The 52-inch and 55-inch-plus segments grew the most year-to-year with 160 percent and 302 percent, respectively.

Other findings from Quixel’s study:

• Sales of 1080p LCDTVs captured 35 percent of the overall market in units and 61 percent in value for 2008.
• In the large screen size segments, 1080p sales accounted for 90 percent of the unit sales.
• As larger size and higher resolution models become commonplace, the market has begun to embrace 120-hz and LED backlight solutions, with the latter shipping over 100K units in 2008.
• Quixel Research's projections for the USA LC DTV market in units show the category increasing out to 2012.