Digital TV (DTV), the unquestioned star of CES, was also the spotlight grabber for dealers last year.
DTVs ended the year with an all-time record sales month, as unit shipments of sets and displays to dealers climbed to 640, 400 to boost the 2003 full-year sales total to an unexpectedly high 4.12 million. That is up a sharp 61.7 percent from the 2.54 million sold in 2002, according to figures issued here at the CES by CEA Marketing Services. CEA had been expecting total digital TV sales for the year to come in at about 3.95 million, but the December surge put the actual total well above that. The year’s performance lifted the total number of digital TVs sold to date to 8.87 million.
Analog TVs also were in big demand during the holiday season as, excluding combinations, direct-view sales rose 7.2 percent to 2.45 million.
