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European TV Market Will Ride Out Supply Chain Bumps
DATE: 27th June 2007
The latest forecast from Meko's DisplayCast ATV market intelligence service suggests that although there is likely to be tight supply of LCD TVs and that prices may actually rise for some size categories, the European TV set market is still set for continued growth. The switch to LCD and the demand for full HD (or 1080 line) sets as well as the nearing deadlines for digital switchover across the region are all driving sales. "The outlook is for between 8% and 9% unit sales growth each year from 2007 to 2009", noted Pete Gamby, Meko's research director. "Driving this is the rapid rise in sales of LCD TVs with growth for this sector at close to 50% for 2007 compared to 2006". Meko has again revised its CRT forecasts down and this time it has also had to quite dramatically cut the outlook for rear projection TV. Here, the potential slowdown in decline in sales that was promised by Sony and JVC promoting LCOS-based products under their S-XRD and D-ILA sub-brands seems to have been very short-lived. Plasma recovered its position slightly in Q1 but the outlook for this technology is not as good as for LCD despite some double digit growth during the forecast period. Revenue is under pressure as prices will go down as LCD panel prices continue to drop in price (despite the short term rises that are now predicted for 2007). The number of players in the plasma sector is ever-decreasing and there are also fewer size categories in which the technology can really stay competitive. There are some potential bright spots for plasma in the planned development of more efficient (10 lumens/W) panels and in developments in panel performance as has been superbly demonstrated by Pioneer with its very latest high-end models. However, there’s a feeling that this may be too little, too late, and could consign plasma to niche, higher value segments. Meko has made some changes to its forecast in terms of screen size since its last estimate in February. Generally, the 37” LCD sector seems to be holding out very well at the moment although it's expected that this size category will eventually fade under the competition from 40” LCD and the fact that not enough set makers will support it. Despite calls from some retailers for mainstream brands to provide low cost, small size LCD TVs, there is no sign that this will happen and the PC market brands and "no name" brands will have to continue to battle it out for market share here. This is proving to be a very competitive but stable market in terms of units, at least for the next few quarters. Take-up of very large sets in the LCD market remains disappointing for the panel makers but is in line with Meko's forecasts. This is despite research done by Sharp which suggests that European households are more willing to buy 50" and even 60"+ sets. Growth here looks good but is coming from a small base of sales, particularly in the 60"+ sector. -end- For more information or graphics, please contact Pete Gamby on +44 (0)1276 22677 or by email at peteg@meko.co.uk. If you would like to receive press releases from Meko as soon as they are available, please send a blank email to: ListServer@meko.co.uk, with the subject line 'Subscribe MekoNews'. |