Plasma HD sales overtake RPTVs worldwide
Is this a sign of things to come? According to DisplaySearch, overall PDP sales were up 89% last quarter in comparison to last year's second quarter. 1.13 million PDPs were sold in the quarter and PDPs now account for 2.9% of the worldwide television market. In comparison, Rear-Projection TVs (RPTVs) lost market share, going from 2.9 percent to 2.5 percent.
Other than in North America, PDPs are outselling RPTVs due primarily to larger screen demand. North America seems to favor 50-inch sets or larger, while the rest of the world craves smaller and less expensive sets. At least I live on the right continent; bigger is better!
This is a bit of shocker to me for a couple of reasons. Where do the other flat panel sets come into play? Is Plasma the set of the future, or will LCDs continue to gain market share also? I don't see DLP on the way out simply because the new DLP chip supports 1080 vertical lines of resolution. I also expect SEDs to begin grabbing serious market share in the next two to three years. Thoughts?
