ARLINGTON, VA. — August was another overall strong month for video hardware sales to dealers, with TV/VCR combos, VCR decks, camcorders and DVD players hitting new highs for the period, according to figures from the Consumer Electronics Association.
The only category to show a decline in sales for the month compared to August 1999 was analog direct-view color television, which took a 2 percent dip on sales of 1.83 million units vs. 1.87 million last August.
Based on traditional selling patterns, August color sales were at a seasonally adjusted 22.8 million, off slightly from the eight-month average rate of 24.4 million.
TV/VCR sales in August took a 6.2 percent jump to 389,137 units. Sales on the year through August were up 13.4 percent to 2.96 million. The indicated annual selling rate for combos for the month was 4.9 million, slightly off the 5.14 million eight-month average rate.
Analog projection televisions didn’t set any records for the month but did post a slight 2.8 percent improvement over the year-ago period, with sales of 92,839 units. The cumulative total for the January-through-August stretch is now 770,517, an 18.5 percent improvement over the 1999 period. Nonetheless, the August annual selling rate of 1.2 million was off from the 1.5 million indicated for the first eight months.
VCR sales, continuing to be bolstered by giveaway retail pricing, were up 4.6 percent in August to 1.7 million and up 5.2 percent to 13.5 million for the eight-month period. The August selling rate was 21.1 million, off from the 23.8 million rate for the full eight months.
Sales of camcorders for the month increased 4.9 percent to 368,115 and were up 19.2 percent to 3.42 million on the year so far. August’s indicated selling rate of 5.2 million was well short of the eight-month average rate of 5.71 million.
DVD player sales were a solid 557,617 for the month, up 114.3 percent from August last year, and were up 102.8 percent to 3.8 million for the first eight months.
