DisplaySearch And NPD To Reveal Black Friday 2007 TV Sales Results And 2008 Outlook In Upcoming Event

November 7, 2007

DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting, announced today they will host a Webinar to discuss Black Friday Results and the 2008 Outlook on Friday, December 7, 2007. Black Friday is a crucial day for retailers when annual profits usually cross from the red into the black. Black Friday 2006 was marked by extraordinary promotions that pushed Q4 TV shipments to record highs and average selling prices to record lows, particularly for flat panel LCD and PDP models. How will 2007 shape up? Wal-Mart has already started early promotions to generate buzz, including a 50" HD plasma for less than $1000, compared to an average price of around $1700 in mid October. How will traditional CE retailers like Circuit City and Best Buy react? The week of Black Friday 2006, ending November 25, alone accounted for 19.4% of all TV sell-through units and 17.1% of revenues during Q4'06, demonstrating the impact a successful Thanksgiving weekend can have on quarterly results. The focus last Black Friday was on 42" HD PDP with Best Buy generating considerable attention by advertising the Panasonic TH42PX75U for $999, which ended up as the bestselling TV on a revenue basis by a 2:1 margin over any other SKU. Which model will be the winner this year? Will it be a LCD, the fastest growing TV category or another PDP, which is less constrained by supply? According to Paul Gagnon, Director of North America TV Market Research, "Black Friday has always been a crucial event for retailers, but because of the surge in demand for flat panel TVs, it has become an important indicator for selling trends for the rest of the holiday season. Brands, retailers and many others can gain critical insights and develop tactical plans from these early Black Friday results." Tier 2 brands like Vizio and Syntax-Brillian have had a considerable impact on the TV market during the last year, capturing share in mass merchant and warehouse club channels. But these brands are also now moving into traditional CE distribution. How will Tier 1 brands like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic and Sharp react? Will pricing remain aggressive, but reasonable or will the desire for greater market share push promotional activity to the extreme as in 2006? Topics being covered in the webinar include • Top SKUs and brands including share by units and revenues • Share by technology, size and resolution • Implications for the rest of the holiday season • Overview TV forecast for Q4'07 and 2008 by technology Find out what happened by attending the 2007 Black Friday Results and 2008 Outlook Webinar on December 7, 2007 featuring detailed analysis of the week's performance by analysts from DisplaySearch and NPD. Both CE and PC industries will be covered, reviewing what happened the week of Black Friday and the potential impact on Q4'07 and Q1'08 sales and beyond. Can you afford to miss this?

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