February 19, 2007
LCDs Unquestionably Driving the Push for Widescreen and HD TV Sets

Yesterday, I wrote about the King of the Hill aspect ratio controversy regarding whether the animated show was really aired in high-definition and what it means for the future of an HD animated lineup on Sunday nights on Fox.

However, James Hibberd had another story that caught my eye in last week's high-definition newsletter, covering a study that has proclaimed that LCD sales have officially outsold plasma during the final quarter of last year.

The study, from DisplaySearch, confirms predictions that LCD would completely surpass plasma in the war for high-definition, widescreen television sales.

According to the study, LCD sales were up 72 percent from last year, overtaking plasma sets in the 40-to-44 inch category for the first time. Overall, North American sales have driven 26 percent growth internationally in TV sales, while both LCD and plasma prices fell significantly last year, with LCD sets 21 percent cheaper by the end of the year and plasma sales down 29 percent.

Back in January, I wrote about a Quixel study that revealed an upswing in HDTV sales as the price lowered, which also found that "LCD sets continue to sell more than plasma, in fact twice as much."

And the news from December from a DisplaySearch study was that it was official that "more than 50 percent of televisions now sold in North America are flat panel television, with some of the more expensive television sets being the most popular."

At the time, I wrote, "The competition is particularly growing because LCD makers are now aggressively targeting the larger television market that had been a stronghold of plasma TV makers."

As the infrastructure gets in place on the viewer side to watch HD and widescreen television, the demand for more substantial HD offerings is growing past gee-whiz reactions and lead users to a more widespread demand. HD, like DVRs, has not hit the tipping point into ubiquity, but that's partially because Richard Siklos is right that change sometimes takes time.