Plasma TV sales rebound: Is it a long-term trend?

Aug 4, 2010 12:21 PM

Although it may seem a bit "inside baseball" to talk about flat-panel TV shipments, the latest report from Austin-based market research firm DisplaySearch shows that plasma TV shipments were up dramatically during the first and second quarters of this year.

That's interesting, as many in the industry have been predicting the slow demise of plasma as a TV technology for nearly two years, especially since many major brands, including Sony, Toshiba and Vizio, now only sell LCD TVs. And we always get letters of complaints from readers whenever we say that many LCD TV technologies are really efforts to help improve inherent weaknesses in the technology so they can deliver plasma-like performance.

But according to a DisplaySearch blog discussing its most recent Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, plasma shipments were up 42 percent in the first quarter of this year and 49 percent in the second. Panasonic is still the plasma leader, but both Samsung and LG Electronics have pumped up capacity, with a projected overall growth for the year of about 27 percent. DisplaySearch says that forecast is supported by the NPD Group's US retail weekly tracking service, which shows year-to-date plasma TV sales in July were more than 70% higher than the same period last year. By contrast, LCD sales were flat.

While some may attribute the boost to 3D TV, where plasma has some inherent advantages, DisplaySearch believes it's too soon for that nascent technology to be accountable for the upticks in plasma sales. More likely culprits, it says, are the higher prices for LED-backlit LCD panels due to limited supplies, which has kept LCD TV prices from falling significantly and made similarly featured plasma models more attractive. In addition, the launch of LED-backlit sets has tended to devalue traditional CCFL-lit models in the eyes of many consumers. And now that plasma TVs have largely shed their bulkier look, it's harder to differentiate between LCD and plasma models purely on an aesthetic or design basis.

It's still too early to see if plasma's resurgence will be short-lived, but it's expected that LED-backlit LCD TV prices will start to fall as LED shortages abate. That's when, as DisplaySearch suggests, we'll have a real test of the durability of the plasma TV sales surge.

—James K. Willcox