CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The U.S. LCD TV category posted flat year-over-year unit shipment results in Q1 and Q2 2013, according to a report from Quixel Research.
The market research firm said that this year further consolidation of sales channels heavy with inventory from the holidays made for a more challenging environment for manufacturers early on.
“The leaders either gained share or actually grew from first half 2012 to first half 2013 or both in some cases,” noted Tamaryn Pratt, Quixel principal. “Quixel is expecting first-half results for LCD TV to tick up to top 13 million units. The outlook for the third quarter looks healthy, with many aggressively priced back-toschool items lined up at major retailers,” she said.
According to Quixel, the industry is seeing more emphasis on back-to-school TV promotions this year, which should mark “a prelude to the holidays and what has become Black Friday Month. That momentum should carry through this year as many consumers are hitting the replacement mode and this is their first opportunity to have a reasonably priced big screen.”
In addition, Pratt is calling for strong large-screen TV sales in the second half of the year.
Quixel charted first-quarter TV revenue at $3.2 billion, and first-half TV revenue at $7 billion.
“Unsurprisingly, the large screen average selling price (ASP) continued to decline and the category was down 2 percent on ASPs year over year,” according to Pratt.
The big-screen trend from 2012 is still in full force this year and even in ultra big screens.
“Vizio, Sharp and Samsung led the way. Even 70-inch model sales increased 38 percent in volume and 20 percent in value from Q4 2012 to Q1 2013, which is generally a declining quarter,” Pratt said. “Expect [first-half] 2013 results to show 70-inch up almost 150 percent when compared to [first-half] 2012.”
For the full year, Quixel projects 50-inch and larger flat-panel TV sales will increase by nearly 10 percent and almost double by 2015.
“We are anticipating strong back to school promos for 80-inch models below $3,000, which will kick off the big-screen bonanza,” she added.
Pratt said that whereas last year produced $888 promos on 60-inch LCD TVs for a few hours, “there are indications the market will see 70-inch models at dramatically low prices or potentially as low as $999” in 2013. Pratt also sees connected TV as a category bright spot in 2013, with continuing emphasis through the holiday season.
“This feature has been percolating along and quietly gaining momentum as consumers are finding it fulfills a need that is not just for a big-screen TV. To date, the connected or smart feature was relegated to large-screen-sized sets, but Q1 2013 marked the first time a smaller-screen (32-inch) connected TV topped Quixel’s best sellers by volume for Q1 2013,” she said.
“We expect that feature to continue to lead the market,” added Pratt. “Vizio has long been a supporter of affordable connectivity in smaller sizes and showed their success with the Vizio E3201-A1.”
Quixel predicted first-half 2013 volume to be up more than 25 percent compared with first-half 2012, and nearly 20 million units in the U.S. for total connected TV.
For Q1 2013 unit share was up almost 8 points over first quarter 2012 and up 6 points quarter over quarter.
