Consumers ‘Starting to Embrace’ 3D TV, CEA Study Finds
Consumers are using built-in apps for access to Web-enabled content “at a high rate,” according to a Consumer Electronics Association study, “Beyond 2D Viewing: Understanding the Demand for Advanced Television Features.” Roughly 20 percent of U.S. adults own a connected TV, according to CEA, and nearly 90 percent report using apps available on their display in some capacity. Over 40 percent of HDTV owners connect their primary displays to the Internet, and 76 percent connect at least one external device with smart app capability, according to the study.
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When it comes to connected devices, half of HDTV owners connect a videogame console or DVD/Blu-ray player to their TVs, and 61 percent of app users are most likely to stream video content from the Internet, while 56 percent report browsing the Internet and 54 percent use apps to view pictures, CEA said. The most important purchase factors for consumers when buying a new TV are high-quality audio and video, followed by built-in Wi-Fi and Internet browsing, CEA said. One in three consumers plans to buy a new HDTV within the next 12 months, it said. Among HDTV owners who also own a tablet, two-thirds use their tablets for social networking while watching TV, according to the study, and 58 percent of HDTV owners who own a smartphone use social networking on their phones while watching TV, CEA said.
Consumers have become more aware of 3D technology as it has become an increasingly common feature on HDTVs, and according to CEA, they are also “starting to embrace it.” Just over 20 percent of U.S. homes own at least one 3D TV, CEA said. Projections for unit sales of 3D TVs in the U.S. for 2012 were 5.6 million, comprising 18 percent of total TV sales, up from 8 percent in 2011, it said. CEA said 42 percent of 3D-capable HDTV owners watch five or more hours of 3D content per week; one in nine watch more than 15 hours of 3D content per week, according to the study. By comparison, 75 percent of 3D-capable TV owners watch more than five hours of 2D content on their 3D TV per week, it said. Forty-eight percent of 3D TV owners have watched a 3D Blu-ray disc, 42 percent have viewed live 3D programming and 30 percent reported using 3D content for videogames, it said. According to the study, 68 percent of 3D TV owners rate the visual experience of 3D programming as “excellent” or “good.” Continued expansion and innovation with 3D content will be “extremely important” for the growth of 3D TV usage and sales, said Kevin Tillmann, senior research analyst at CEA.
Specialty dealers have reported a less-than-sanguine view of 3D from customers, who have come to accept 3D as just another feature of high-end TVs. Initially, 3D provided a “small increase” in TV sales among early adopters, according to Lyn Perry, CEO of specialty AV retail store Wilshire Entertainment in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Customers often say they “don’t want 3D,” until they're told it’s a value-add feature that they're not paying extra for, Perry told us: “There’s a lack of interest” for 3D that continued into 2012 from 2011.
After 3D launched simultaneously in both the specialty channels and the mass market, many specialty dealers felt betrayed by manufacturers who traditionally launched premium features through limited-distribution channels. Now those dealers are looking to Ultra HD TV to drive sales in a way 3D couldn’t, David Berman, vice president-sales and operations at Stereo East in Frisco, Texas, told us. Stereo East has a 4K TV on order from Sony and is one of the first two Dallas-area retailers to be promised the 84-inch TV. “It’s a credibility-builder,” Berman said.