Europeans sniff at anything under 37 inches
7 Mar 2008 | 18:37 GMT
Telly visual
WE ARE ALL a bunch of couch potatoes, according to a new consumer electronics industry report, which reckons that last year alone, global TV shipments rose by four per cent to about 200 million units.
The report drawn up by Understanding & Solutions says it expects sales to continue to rise even more, estimating they could reach 280 million units, worth $160bn, by 2012.
The sharp rise in laziness is the fault of flat panel TVs, which are replacing the CRT sets. Emerging markets are also to blame for global sloth, with over 50 per cent of global TV shipments going south in 2007. The report notes that this number is more than likely to rise to more than 65 per cent by 2012.
LCD screen tellies accounted for 40 per cent of shipments and 64 per cent of market value in 2007, but that number is slated to rise to over 80 per cent By 2012.
The report also implies that if it isn't at least 37 inches, it won't satisfy most Europeans. Confirming that size definitely does matter, shipments of TVs with screens larger than 37 inches have risen from just four per cent to 23 per cent in the last three years. That number is predicted to grow even more by 2012 to 40 per cent.
The report also notes that the larger our screens, the more we will all crave High Definition TV, meaning that Blu-Ray will probably see a boost in uptake.
Major upcoming sporting events like the Olympics, the Football World Cup and the UEFA championships, will apparently entrench us into our sofas even more with predicted TV market growth spikes based around those events. µ
© 2007 Incisive Media Investments Ltd. 2007