TV sales up five per cent year-on-year

Meko sees opportunities in 3D, internet connectivity and LED

Demand for television sets continued to grow in the last quarter of 2010, with EMEA shipments up five per cent year-on-year to 24 million units.

Goksen Sertler, senior analyst for television at specialist market analyst Meko, said a total of 1.1 million 3D television sets were sold in the EMEA region in Q4.

"This [1.1 million figure] is about 30 per cent of worldwide 3D shipments. This was above our forecast, but there is a huge mount of 3D television stock in sales channels. These were pushed into the sales channels by television set makers, with the hope of increasing sales revenue and finding a reason for consumers to pay more," Sertler said.

Lack of content and weak demonstrations kept sales figures low in EMEA. About 1.8 per cent of total Western European flat-panel television set shipments were stereo 3D (S3D), with plasma sets accounting for 21 per cent of that figure.

Sales of sets with LED-backlighting went up to 30 per cent of total LCD TV shipments in Western Europe, with Germany shipping the most, she said.

In Western Europe, 27 per cent of television sets shipped during Q4 were internet-capable. "However, these are not necessarily connected by consumers," Sertler added.

Sony and Samsung accounted for the most connected televisions shipped, both taking approximately 40 per cent share of the category.

"We will keep seeing more models with S3D, more connected sets and LED-backlit televisons. However, retailers need to set up better demonstrations for connected and S3D television to convince consumers to look at value, rather than choosing on price," Sertler said.

Most of the growth in Q4 was from Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa, concluded Sertler.