Analog Video Sales Rebound In May

ARLINGTON, VA.— Factory sales of analog television and video products showed a rebound during the month of May, as all categories except for VCRs and TV/VCR combo units posted gains over the same period in 2001.

According to sales figures released by the CEA, sales of analog direct view color television sets totaled 1.36 million units in May, accounting for a 3.4 percent rise over May sales a year ago. It was the first month of this year that analog direct view color TV had posted unit sales gains. Year-to-date numbers for analog direct view TV indicated 6.1 million units have been sold over the first five months, down 13.3 percent from the same period a year ago. Based on seasonally adjusted selling rate for analog direct view in May includes sales of 20.6 million, while the year-to-date rate is running at 19.2 million units.

The news was not as good for direct view TV/VCR combo products, which tallied unit sales of 255,788 units in May, down 11.5 percent from a year ago. Category sales over the first five months of the year show 1.3 million units, down 15.7 percent from the same period in 2001. The seasonally adjusted selling rate indicates sales of 3.67 million units, while the year-to-date selling rate hit 3.8 million.

As with analog direct view, sales of analog rear projection TVs also posted gains in May, representing the first growth month for the category this year. Factory unit sales reached 58,317 units in the month, up 13 percent from a year ago. Cumulative sales for the year reached 310,744 units, down 14.6 percent from the same time a year ago. The seasonally adjusted selling rate indicates sales of 1.12 million units, while sales for the year to date are running at a 930,210 unit level.

Sales of VCR decks continued to plummet under the weight of the thriving DVD category. According to CEA factory unit sales figures, 960,844 VCR decks were sold in May, down 19.6 percent from a year ago. Cumulative unit sales for the year, showed 4 million units, down 29.5 percent from a year ago. The seasonally adjusted selling rate indicates sales of 13.3 million units, while the year-to-date sales rate is running at an 11.7 million unit level.

Camcorder factory unit sales jumped 11.7 percent in May to 507,372 units, bringing cumulative sales for the first five months to 2.17 million, up 5.3 percent from a year ago. The seasonally adjusted selling rate indicates sales of 6.2 million units, while the year-to-date sales rate reached 5.78 million.

DVD player sales continued to surge, especially after CEA retroactively added sales of DVD/VCR combo units to the first eight weeks of the year. Previously, the association added DVD/VCR combos to the category for the other weeks of the year. In May, the industry sold 941,673 DVD players to dealers, up 80 percent from a year ago. The cumulative number for the year was up 34.8 percent to 4.7 million players.