Strong Sales In March Round Out Stellar First Quarter For Video

18-Apr-00

Manufacturers' shipments of video products grew by an incredible 30 percent during March, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The strong March increase brought total first quarter sales to 13.3 million units, a 21 percent increase over the first quarter of 1999. The growth in March was reflective of a larger trend of prosperity in video product sales, as all categories posted double digit increases for both the month and year-to-date.The largest video category maintained its lead position by posting strong growth, as sales of analog direct view TVs in the first quarter grew by 12 percent over 1999 to 5.1 million units. Meanwhile, sales of the other heavy volume video product, the VCR, increased by 14 percent in the first quarter (23 percent in March alone) to 4.6 million units.The DVD player continued its record-breaking pace in the first quarter, as shipments reached nearly 1.2 million units, representing a 188 percent increase over 1999 sales in the year-to-date. Already the ""fastest selling consumer electronics product of all time"" CEA projects DVD player sales to surpass 6.5 million units in 2000, only its third full year on the market.Sales of TV/VCR combinations reached nearly 450,000 units in March, representing a 33 percent growth over last March, and bringing year-to-date sales 18 percent ahead of first quarter 1999.Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA, stated, ""Our industry is offering the consumer a tremendous variety of choices in video entertainment at an equally wide variety of price points. It is clear from the March figures that consumers' emerging interest in new digital video technologies such as DTV and DVD has not harmed sales of traditional analog products.""Rounding out the astonishing month were sales of analog projection TVs and camcorders, which posted increases of 38 percent and 24 percent in the quarter, respectively.CEA is a sector of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA). CEA represents more than 600 US companies involved in the development, manufacturing and distribution of audio, video, mobile electronics, communication, information technology, multimedia and accessories products that are sold through consumer channels.CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES - Your Source for Workstyle and Lifestyle Technology. All profits from CES are reinvested into industry services, including technical training and education, product promotion, engineering standards development, market research and governmental and legal affairs support.

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