Sales of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) televisions grew by more than 33 percent quarterly to 207,286 units in the third quarter as TV makers cut prices to further spur demand, market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday.
On an annual basis, the sales represented 78.7 percent growth when compared to the 116,000 units sold in the third quarter of last year, IDC said.
FALLING PRICES
The average price for a standard 32-inch LCD TV fell 13.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to less than NT$30,000 per unit, even though flat panel prices rose, IDC analyst Kim Hye-jin (
Looking forward, Kim forecast that unit sales would increase by 20 percent quarter-on-quarter in the final quarter of the year.
HIGH DEFINITION
Kim also forecast that both Japanese and Korean manufacturers of LCD TVs and DVD players would implement sharp price cuts for high-definition models in the next six months on expected demand caused by the Olympic Games in Beijing next year, which will be the first games to be transmitted in high definition.
The price reductions would help boost sales of 40-inch TVs in the near future, while sales of low-margin 32-inch TVs would remain flat as vendors focus their promotions on TVs with bigger screens to make more profit, Kim said.
MARKET SHARE
Sales of high definition TVs accounted for 7 percent of total LCD TV sales last quarter, up from 1 percent in the first quarter of this year, IDC said.
In the third quarter, Tatung Co (大同), Chi Mei Corp (奇美實業) and Sony Corp were the top three LCD TV vendors, the IDC report said.
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