IMS Research announced that this year’s Black Friday consumer electronics offerings hint at potential gains in the streaming video market and challenges for LED-backlit LCD and 3D TVs.
For more information visit: www.imsresearch.com
Unedited press release follows:
IMS Research on Black Friday: BD Players Boost Streaming Video; LED TV Oversupply; 3D Difficulties
AUSTIN, Texas–This year’s Black Friday consumer electronics offerings hint at potential gains in the streaming video market and challenges for LED and 3D TVs, according to analysts at IMS Research.
Low holiday pricing for streaming-capable Blu-ray Disc (BD) players is expected to boost the userbase of streaming video providers such as Netflix and Vudu. Paul Erickson, Senior Analyst at IMS Research, states, “Black Friday brings a variety of streaming-capable BD players to the sub-$100 price point. This alone will boost BD format penetration. The real story, however, is the expansion of the streaming video market via hardware that’s more appealing and mainstream-accessible than connected TVs, game consoles, and even Apple TV.”
“This year’s holiday discounting of LED TVs is driven largely by oversupply. LED TVs were introduced as step-up models priced above other step-up models (high refresh sets), making them unaffordable to most consumers,” according to IMS’ Senior Vice President of Displays, LEDs and Lighting, Ross Young. Young continues, “Due to LED supply chain expansion, with LED wafer supply up 58% in 2010 and even greater in 2011, there are excess inventories throughout the supply chain. Thus, prices are expected to fall this holiday, with sets from top brands discounted by 20%.”
“Black Friday’s lack of focus on 3D illustrates suppliers’ difficulties in gaining traction with the 3D value proposition,” in the opinion of Anna Hunt, Principal Analyst at IMS. Hunt adds, “Once 3D capability is integrated into smaller, lower-priced TVs, and more content becomes available, 3D will gain wider appeal and some of the hype will resurface. Most 3D TV sets are typically higher-priced, and may not fare well with price-conscious consumers this holiday season.”
About IMS Research
IMS Research (www.imsresearch.com) is a supplier of market research and consultancy services on a wide range of global electronics markets. The company headquarters is in Wellingborough, UK with offices in Austin, Texas and Shanghai, China. IMS Research regularly publishes detailed research on the Consumer Electronics markets, among others.