AUSTIN, TX--As global economic conditions deteriorated during Q4'08, consumer demand for discretionary purchases suffered, including flat panel TVs. According to the latest findings from the DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, global TV shipments fell more than five percent in Q4'08 to 57.7M units from more than 60M units a year earlier. This is the first year-to-year decline in total TV shipments for more than two years. Due to ASP declines, total TV revenues fell even more, declining by seven percent to just over $30 billion despite flat panel technologies picking up more than ten percent unit share.
Combined flat panel TV revenues-which includes LCD, plasma and OLED technologies-posted the first annual decline in a given quarter, falling three percent despite percent growth in unit volume with falling prices affecting revenues.
- Globally, flat panel TV share surged from 57 percent in Q3'08 to 66 percent in Q4'08 as rapidly falling LCD prices stimulated a shift from CRT to LCD, especially at smaller screen sizes under 40-inch. The 1080p share of global TV shipments exceeded 20 percent of units for the first time, and a new metric available from DisplaySearch in TV tracking shows that more than ten percent of LCD TV sets shipped were equipped with 120 Hz+ frame rates.
