LCD TV Sales Grow 134% In '06

PORTLAND, ORE. — LCD TV unit and dollar volume more than doubled in 2006 as the result of aggressive price reductions throughout the year, according to a market report from Quixel Research.

The report — "LCD TV Market Review for Q4 2006" — revealed U.S. LCD TV unit volume grew 134 percent and revenues grew 125 percent to $11 billion in 2006, up from $5 billion in 2005.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the LCD TV category rose 42 percent to more than $4.3 billion in revenue from the $3 billion recorded in the third quarter 2006.

"Fourth-quarter price declines really tipped the scale for the LCDTV category," stated Tamaryn Pratt, Quixel's principal. "We saw large screen (average selling prices) fall 17 to 20 percent from Q3 to Q4 but smaller sized models weren't immune, dropping 15 to 17 percent. These aggressive prices really drove consumers to retail over the holiday season and as a result sales almost doubled in just one quarter."

Within screen sizes, Quixel said 52W-inch models saw the largest average selling price decline from the third quarter of 2006 to fourth quarter of 2006 and 37W-inch models showed the most significant price decline from 2005 to 2006.

"Even with prices spiraling downward, the velocity of large-screen LCD TV sales, coupled with the increase in 1,080p models, kept the overall revenues strong for 2006," said Pratt. "Revenue share of 40-inch plus LCD TVs grew from 33 percent in Q3 2006 to 45 percent in Q4 2006, or in dollar terms grew from $1 billion to $2 billion for the same time period."

On a year-to-year basis, 40-inch-plus models accounted for less than $500,000 in revenues in 2005 but in one year grew 700 percent, amassing $4 billion in sales for 2006, the report finds.

Quixel forecasts the U.S. LCD TV market to triple in volume by 2010.

Quixel's plasma display report appears on p. 14.