DTV Sales Increase, DVD Players Level
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 3/18/2002
ARLINGTON, VA.— Digital television sales to dealers continued to grow in January, while DVD players appeared to be leveling off, according to figures just released by the Consumer Electronics Association.
DTV product sales rose 83 percent from a year ago to 149,291 units in January, CEA said. Factory dollar volume for those sales rose 67 percent to $266.8 million.
CEA said total sales of video products for the first month of 2002 signaled what may be a brief leveling off of category sales to dealers.
According to CEA reports, DTV products include integrated sets and monitors displaying active vertical scanning lines of at least 480p Integrated DTV sets must also receive and decoding ATSC terrestrial digital transmissions.
"Sales figures tell a compelling story about the rapid growth of this technology," said Sean Wargo, CEA senior analyst. "Anticipation for increased DTV programming, including the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, contributed to the strong January sales. Based on how the year has started 2002 should be another banner year for DTV."
"During the 2001 holiday season, total orders and purchases of video products from retailers exceeded those of the previous year," said Sean Wargo CEA senior analyst. "However, the frenzy of purchases came somewhat late in the season, so we saw things cool off in January while retailers adjusted the remaining inventory of product."
DVD unit sales were down this year by 5.1 percent. The tremendous growth in 2001 and the apparent holding pattern of 2002 indicate the product is reaching true maturity. The DVD player now is a consumer electronics staple in 25 percent of American households.
Other video products saw sales declines from a year ago. Hardest hit were VCRs. CEA traced the earlier performances of VCRs and DVDs in part to exuberant holiday gift appeal of the categories, brought on by lowering prices.
September 2001 through December 2001 saw DVD sales surpass those of VCRs, CEA reported. Last month, VCRs regained the lead by a hair, although unit sales still were down 25.4 percent compared to the same period in 2001.
More detailed sales information is available for purchase through the CEA's Market Activity Reports and Analysis (MARA) program. For a list of available reports and purchasing information, visit www.eBrain.org/mara or send an e-mail request to info@ebrain.org.
