According to the a study released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the average household has 100 CDs of music, 40 DVDs of movies and 16 video game titles. The average consumer spends around $1,250 on electronic equipment, up 11% in 2004 and this is predicted to rise a further 11% this year. This growth is mainly driven by the transition from analogue equipment such as regular TVs and VCRs to digital equipment such as Digital HDTV sets, PVR's and Digital satellite and cable receivers.
Currently 13% of US households have a HDTV set, up from 10% at the end of 2004. The average number of TVs per household has also risen from 2.4 in 2004 to 3.1 at this time. Flat-panel TVs and PVR's now account for 10% of homes. When it comes to music, around 15% of homes now have a portable MP3 as consumers move from physical media to downloadable music.
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"The consumer electronics industry grew 11 percent in 2004 and is expected to grow another 11 percent this year," said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. "U.S. households spend heavily on consumer electronics because they recognize the tremendous value these products deliver. Few industries provide products where prices consistently fall while features and performance consistently rise." The on-going transition from analog products to digital products continues to power growth in the CE industry. The study shows that the average U.S. home now has 3.1 television sets, up from an average of 2.4 sets last year. This implies that the digital transition is continuing to influence purchasing decisions as digital high-definition televisions (HDTVs) are present in roughly 13 percent of households, flat-panel televisions in about 10 percent of homes, digital video recorders (DVRs) in almost 10 percent, and DVD player penetration rates are on the verge of eclipsing VCRs. |
As the percentage of households with HDTV sets has only risen by 3 percent over the past five months, I cannot see digital set penetration being much better since the majority of digital TV's being sold handle HDTV. This also means that the US has a got a long way to go before they can even consider switching off analogue transmissions. Unfortunately, with such a low HDTV penetration, there will mean a much smaller audience compared with the launch of the DVD player where it was designed to work with almost any TV.
Feel free to discuss about HDTV sets and HD equipment in our Satellite, HD-TV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD Forum. For discussions about set top boxes and PVRs, see our Stand Alone Devices & Home Entertainment.
Source: Music Industry News Network
