Arlington, Va. — Factory sales of digital television products saw a 40 percent spike in unit sales to 741,598 in September, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from the Consumer Electronics Association.
Adding in September numbers, the association said cumulative 2004 DTV unit numbers rose 71 percent vs. the first nine months of 2003.
“The industry has much to be thankful for and to celebrate this holiday season,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA’s president. “More than 4.4 million DTV products have been sold during the first nine months of this year, and CEA expects to see more groundbreaking sales as 2004 comes to a close. Some 13.3 million DTV units have shipped into the U.S. marketplace since product introduction in 1998. This translates to more than $20 billion invested in DTV.”
CEA Market Research projects that 6.97 million DTV units will be sold in 2004, 10.77 million in 2005, 16.77 million in 2006, 23.25 million in 2007, and 27.05 million in 2008. CEA defines DTV products as integrated sets and monitors displaying active vertical scanning lines of at least 480p and, in the case of integrated sets, receiving and decoding Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) terrestrial digital broadcasts.
