World 3D TV sales to jump in 2011
But still only a small percentage of tellies shipped
World shipments of 3D TVs will jump 463 per cent this year, market watcher IHS iSuppli has forecast, as TV makers tone done their feverish promotion of the technology.
Releasing cheaper sets is helping too, it will surprise no one to learn.
Some 23.4m 3D TVs will ship this year, up from 4.2m in 2010, iSuppli reckons.
Global shipments will breach the 100-million-unit mark by 2014 and then hit 159.2 million in 2015, the research firm said.
Last year, vendors were vigorously hyping up 3D in a desperate bid to persuade punters to upgrade existing flat-panel tellies. Their calls largely fell on deaf ears, thanks to a lack of content, high set prices and - frankly - because too few people could see the point. Brits would prefer to have BBC iPlayer access, for example, we think.
This year, iSuppli said, vendors are taking a more measured approach, pushing 3D not as the be-all-and-end-all of home entertainment but as a nice feature to have alongside internet connectivity, network media playback and such.
That will work with buyers, hence the big jump in shipments.
But let's put those 23.4m 3D TVs in context. DisplaySearch, another market watcher, says 257.9m TVs will ship this year. That includes CRTs, OLEDs and rear-projection sets, but by far the vast majority - 92 per cent - are LCDs and plasmas, the two technologies used in 3D TVs.
Out of around 237m LCD and plasma TVs, just 9.9 per cent will be 3D-capable. iSuppli puts the proportion at 11 per cent, up from two per cent in 2010.
Focus on higher-end sets, says DisplaySearch, and the percentage of 3D-capable tellies jumps to 30 per cent this year.
Expect next year's Olympic Games and the Euro 2012 tournament to have a positive impact on 3D sales, but by then, of course, 3D will be as much a standard feature as IPTV services are now. ®
COMMENTS
Programmes
I would prefer to have decent programmes in 2D rather than the same old rubbish tarted up with 3D.
Ha ha!
All those places that flogged us extended 3-5 year warranties on our new 42" LCD TVs have stuffed the market for themselves!
I only bought a new 42" about 2 years ago and it has another 2 years to run on the replace-all cover, so it's staying put!
Buying 3D
I expect 90% of the people who do buy a 3D TV will only be doing so because it came "free" with the model they wanted. 9% will be gamers. Almost no one is going to go out and buy a new TV just to have 3D TV.
Next Generation?
I have no need for a 3D tellie because the only programme I watch is Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD (indeed, even bog-standard widescreen is unnecessary too). Some may consider it ironic that I shun new technology because of my obsession with the past's vision of the future.
Prediced in 2010 too.
Was this a copy and paste or rework?
http://www.reghardware.com/2010/05/14/displaybank_3d_tv_forecast/
They prediced 3% of sales in 2010 would be 3d, and take up has been slow to say the least.
Only way 3D take up will significantly increase is if it's sold as standard in all sets not as add on, theres not enough 3d content to justify the extra cost at the moment for most people. We bought a 42'' TV in 2008, no way are we replacing it anytime short of 2013 as the John Lewise warranty covers it that long, and I fully expect it to last beyond that.
