The conventional wisdom in the world of television technology is that LCD won the panel platform wars and most talk of the future has moved from LCD to LED to OLED and beyond. But wait a minute, as new data from market researcher Quixel Research shows, don’t bury plasma in the grave just yet…
The rumors of plasma’s death appear to be greatly exaggerated as the tech shows growth in 2012…
According to Quixel, in data included as part of its Q4 2012 Large Area Display Report (LAD) Market Review report, plasma-based televisions actually showed sales growth in certain size categories. Sure to catch the attention of many of us, plasma technology is actually showing surprising resilience in the larger size formats.
In selected data released by Quixel on Monday, the researcher says that unit shipments of plasma sets 60-inches and larger actually increased an impressive near-70% in calendar year 2012 over 2011. Revenues also increased 53% to come in at about $800 million in 2012.
Not only that, but in the all-important fourth quarter of 2012, of all television sets over 40-inches sold, 2 out of every 5 sets were plasma. Overall, Quixel says more than 1 million plasma units were sold – a sequential increase over the third quarter.
“There is no question that the Plasma TV category is challenged by the LCD-LED category, but the reality is that the Plasma TV category is still very much alive and staying in the game with well-priced 60-inch and 50-inch HD1080p models, which from CY 2011 to CY 2012 posted ASP increases of 18% and 23% respectively,” said Tamaryn Pratt, principal of Quixel Research in a prepared statement.
Once a viable competitor in all screen sizes, plasma began to lose its dominance in the sub-40-inch screen sizes as LCD technology improved technically and, thanks to the fact that it is less expensive to manufacture, began to undercut plasma pricing. A few years ago, plasma retreated and retrenched to the larger screen dimensions, where LCD manufacturing lost its low-cost edge.
But Quixel notes the technology is growing in certain size segments, maintains a level of consumer following, and received a boost with further investment by both Samsung and Panasonic at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show.
In 2012, when viewing all screen sizes, the plasma market did decline. But plasma still is a $2.4 billion market and competitive in the large screen sizes that many Americans prefer. It would be premature to bury it now…
For more information, see Quixel Research at: www.quixelresearch.com.
Leave a Reply