Menlo Park, CA–Display market research firm, Pacific Media Associates reports that unit sales for flat panel televisions and business displays in North America fell another 14 percent in February 2007. Their Consumer Flat Panel Display Sell-Through Tracking Service also shows that this seasonal decline matches the trend set last year in January and February 2006.
The average street price for the month dropped another 3 percent overall to just over $2,000, which is down 29 percent for the year since February 2006.
The best-selling segment was 30-inch to 34-inch LCD models, according to Rosemary Abowd, Pacific Media vice president. The average street price for this segment was steady from the prior month, however. The biggest price drop occurred in the 40- to 44-inch XGA resolution plasma segment, which lost more than 15 percent to reach $1,524. A major cause for this was the drop in price on the popular Panasonic TH-42PX600U, which lost nearly 20 percent.
The 37-inch WXGA LCD segment was also worthy of note. The unit market share jumped 4 share points to garner 10 percent overall, as the average street price fell below $1,000 for the first time in our survey.
In this sample, more than one in four units sold in February 25.6 percent was made by Sony, putting it in first place for the month. And more than one out of every three dollars spent on flat panel HDTVs 34.3 percent went for Sony products, placing the company first in revenues as well. Panasonic was in second place with 17.8 percent unit share and 18.4 percent revenue share. The best-selling consumer model was the 50-inch Panasonic TH-50PX600U, with 5.4 percent unit share. The average street price for this model was unchanged from January at $2,383.
Note: Data cited here is based on a sample of retailers and resellers, and is subject to sampling error.
For more information, visit www.pacificmediaassociates.com.
