Flat TV Revs Suffer First Ever Quarterly Decline

Global flat panel TV revenues fell 3% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the first time the sector has ever suffered a quarterly contraction, according to research firm DisplaySearch . While flat-panel TV units were up 17% in the quarter, falling prices overwhelmed the higher volumes. The research firm also said overall global TV unit shipments fell more than 5% in the quarter, to 57.7 million units from more than 60 million a year earlier.  Total TV revenues in the quarter fell 7% from a year earlier. Screens measuring 40 inches or larger reached 23% of total unit sales, up from 19% in Q3 and 18% a year ago. LCD displays accounted for 58.1% of shipments in the quarter, compared with 34% for CRTs and 7.7% for plasma. Samsung was the market share leader, with 22% of overall sector revenue. Sony had 14.5% share, LG had 11.5% and Panasonic had 8.7%, followed by Sharp at 7.6%. (link)