Washington — The digital television revolution is complete.
For the first time since the arrival of the first DTVs in 1998, the majority of TVs shipped to U.S. retailers this year will be digital, according to a study released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
The report, The Changing TV Market, forecasts that 62 percent of TVs shipped to U.S. dealers in 2006 will be digital, while the number of analog models will plunge during the next couple years, leading up to the Feb. 17, 2009, analog cutoff date included in President Bush’s 2006 budget package.
Cumulative DTV shipments are expected to hit 48.2 million units this year and grow rapidly to 137 million units by 2009.
The report pegs annual DTV revenues at an estimated $23.3 billion this year, rising to $33.2 billion in 2009.
Digital TV household penetration is far surpassing the rate of growth of other ground-breaking technologies. While it took 10 years for 5 percent of U.S. households to own a color TV after they debuted in 1956, 20 percent of households had a digital TV in 2005, a mere eight years after the technology hit the market.
The full report is available to CEA members at www.ce.org.
