For video hardware marketers, 2000 went out with a sales bang when it came to direct-view analog color TVs, TV/VCRs, camcorders and DVD players, but with a whimper for projection TVs and VCRs, according to final year-end results for sales to dealers.
Sales set new December, fourth-quarter, second-half and full-year records for color TVs, TV/VCRs, camcorders and, of course, DVD players, and the month saw the sale of the 14 millionth DVD unit.
But December VCR sales were at a three-year low and were down for both the quarter and half, though they still finished the year with a plus and a new full-year high.
As for projection TVs, the giant-screen analog models showed the adverse impact of competition from their digital counterparts in the form of lower sales in each of the fourth-quarter months, as well as declines for the half and the year.
For direct-view color, December sales were up 21.5 percent to 2.54 million, to put the quarter at 7.3 million, up 3.7 percent, and the half at 13.4 million up 0.6 percent. Full-year sales were up 4.1 percent to 24.2 million.
TV/VCR sales posed a 13.4 percent December increase to 415,400, to raise sales for the quarter to 1.47 million, up 13.1 percent. Sales through the year’s final half of 2.74 million were up 5.9 percent, and the year closed out with a 12.3 percent rise to 4.96 million.
On the TV front, the only downbeat results came from projection models, which had a 12.3 percent drop in December sales to 142,500, a 17.1 percent decline for the quarter to 349,000 and a 12.5 percent second half fall-off to 12.5 percent. But thanks to a strong first half, sales for the year of 1.22 million were off just 1.3 percent.
The other disappointing year-end performance was by stand-alone VCR decks. December sales of 1.48 million were off a sharp 23.5 percent, leaving the quarter at just over 7 million, down 4.7 percent, and the half at 12.9 million, off 2.6 percent. But still, VCR sales ended the year at 23.1 million, up 1.2 percent.
Including both analog and digital models, sales of camcorders spiked by 40.1 percent in December to 543,500, lifting the results for the quarter to 1.73 million, up 20.9 percent. In the July-December stretch sales were up 22.5 percent to 3.25 million, and they closed the year at 5.85 million, up 22.1 percent.
Sales of DVD players slightly more than doubled for all of the covered periods, coming in at 1.3 million for the month, 3.4 million for the quarter, 5.8 million in the second half, and 8.5 million for the year.
Video Industry Sales Scorecard/Factory and distributor sales to dealers, as reported by the Consumer Electronics Association:
*Includes TV/VCR Combos.
cTWICE 2001
