LCD TVs hit marketshare of 50 percent

DisplaySearch released a report about worldwide TV shipments in Q3 2008, the firm says shipments were up 6 percent year-over-year to 53.5 million units, and 11 percent quarter-over-quarter. However, the firm says most of the growth came from shipments prior to the significant weakening of demand that materialized at the end of the quarter, which will almost certainly impact Q4 growth.

LCD TVs managed to grab a global marketshare of 50 percent last quarter, a growth of 32 percent year-over-year. CRT TVs still account for 42.7 percent of all shipments, 15 percent lower than a year ago, while PDP TV sales rose 37 percent to a marketshare of 7.1 percent.

The most popular TV brands were Samsung (22.5%), Sony (13.3%), LGE (10.9%), Panasonic (8.6%) and Sharp (8%).

LCD TV took share in every region except North America, where it was flat at about 80% of units shipped, and climbed above 87% of shipments in Japan and Western Europe. LCD TV shipments rose to nearly 27M units with North America maintaining its position as the largest LCD TV market for the second consecutive quarter at 8M units. LCD TV shipment growth was strongest in developing markets like Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). In Latin America, LCD TVs rose quickly in popularity against CRT, growing about 120% Y/Y for the second straight quarter. The majority of LCD TV shipments were at 32”, which had a 36% share of all LCD TVs in Q3’08, while the 40”+ share was unchanged from Q2 at about 27% after more than nine straight quarters of share increases.

Plasma TV shipments continued to enjoy a renaissance in Q3 with unit shipments rising 37% Y/Y to 3.8M units, stronger shipment growth than LCD for the second straight quarter. Much of the recent plasma TV growth can be attributed to more aggressive pricing from leading brands and continued strong performance of 32” models in Asia. However, in Q3’08 50” sets saw the strongest share gain, rising from 25% of units in Q2’08 to 28% in Q3’08.

CRT TVs continue to be the most popular technology in the emerging markets of China, Latin America, Asia Pacific and MEA where unit share for CRT TVs was at least 60%. Price is still a major factor inhibiting explosive growth of flat panel TVs, but many manufacturers are hoping to hit price points that will spur faster adoption next year, which is particularly important in light of rapidly dwindling CRT component supplies. CRT shipments in Q3’08 fell about 15% Y/Y to about 23M units.

More info at DisplaySearch.