DTV unit sales hit 625,000 mark in 2000

About 625,000 DTV-related products were shipped to dealers in 2000, accounting for $1.4 billion in sales, according to new figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

CEA projects unit sales of DTV sets and displays will show 80 percent growth in 2001, reaching 1.125 million. 2001 dollar sales are expected to reach $2.1 billion.

"These numbers tell us that the consumer transition to DTV is going strong," said Todd Thibodeaux, CEA vice president of market research and senior economist. "Early unit sales growth of DTV is better than many of the industry's most successful products. And consumer dollar investment in DTV – nearly $5 billion by the end of 2001 – is exceeding that of other blockbuster products." Thibodeaux stated that annual unit sales growth and dollar sales for DTV during its first four years on the market (1998-2001) is projected to surpass that of computers, VCRs, CD players and color TVs.

DTV was launched at retail in August 1998. Unit sales of sets and monitors reached approximately 14,000 in 1998 and 121,000 in 1999. CEA projects sales of DTV sets and displays to continue rapid growth in the coming years, with unit sales of 2.1 million in 2002, 4 million in 2003, 5.4 million in 2004, 8 million in 2005, and 10.5 million in 2006.

Contrary to recent policy, CEA did not break down the numbers to indicate how many of those 625,000 units were displays and how many were decoders, but it's expected that the vast majority of DTV unit sales are in the form of high-end monitors. Recent estimates of DTV decoder sales – a figure that many industry observers feel represents a more accurate picture of the DTV transition – were estimated to be in the 40-50,000 range.

Source: CEA
With contributions by Tom Butts, Managing Editor