Year-To-Date DTV Shipments Exceed One Million Units During May

25-Jun-03

Year-to-date manufacturer-to-dealer sales of digital television (DTV) products surpassed the one million-unit mark during the month of May, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). Unit sales for the year now total 1,073,503, representing a 59 percent increase compared to the same period in 2002. Year-to-date dollar revenues total more than $1.6 billion--an increase of 34 percent compared to last year. During May, factory-to-dealer sales of DTV products totaled 239,895 units with dollar revenues of some $329.4 million. These figures represent an increase of 62 percent and 35 percent, respectively, compared to May 2002. ""Considering that the first million DTV units to be sold in the transition occurred over a two-year period--from 1999 to 2001--these 2003 figures represent outstanding progress,"" said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. ""In 2002--the most successful year for both DTV unit and dollar sales since their market debut--factory-to-dealer sales of DTV products did not breach the one million-unit mark until July. Now, we've bested that by two months and are confident sales figures will reach and perhaps surpass CEA's projected four million units sold by year-end."" Shapiro also continued to point to the importance of final Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval of the cable-consumer electronics (CE) industry Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached last December regarding DTV cable-ready or ""plug-and-play"" products. ""As impressive as these sales are,"" said Shapiro, ""one can only imagine how the figures will skyrocket once the FCC approves the CE/cable plug-and-play agreement. Plug-and-play cable compatibility is the last major obstacle to mass-market status for HDTV. It is imperative that the FCC act on the agreement as soon as possible."" From product introduction to date, DTV product sales total 5,851,621 units with a consumer dollar investment of some $10.3 billion. CEA projects 4 million units will be sold in 2003, 5.4 million in 2004, 8 million in 2005, and 10.5 million in 2006. CEA defines DTV products as integrated sets and monitors displaying active vertical scanning lines of at least 480p and, in the case of integrated sets, receiving and decoding ATSC terrestrial digital transmissions. Data cited in this release is available for purchase through CEA's Market Activity Reports and Analysis (MARA) program. With more than 500 reports published annually, the MARA program is recognized as the ""authoritative source"" for data on the consumer electronics industry. For more information, visit www.eBrain.org/mara. For more information about CEA, visit www.ce.org.

Read More:
http://www.eBrain.org/mara
http://www.ce.org