Sales of DTVs in North America were strong in June, say reports from Pacific Media Associates (PMA). Unit sales of microdisplay TVs (MDTVs) grew 12% in June following a 19% increase in May. Unit sales for flat panel televisions and business displays in North America rose 9% in June.

Chris Chinnock
Sr. Analyst and Sr. Editor
of Insight Media

Total sales of RPTVs - microdisplay and CRT types, are flat from a year ago, down about 1%. The market is being driven by CRT replacement with microdisplay models, and this replacement rate has been steady over the last year or so.

PMA reports that for the first time, all five of the top-selling models had 1080p resolution, with the best selling segment being 55- to 59-inch 1080p DLP models. These accounted for 18.5% of the unit market share, and 17.4% of the revenue share. When viewed over all screen sizes and technologies, the average street price for an RPTV fell to $2,413.

Insight Media’s pricing survey, published each month in HDTV Retailer, shows an overall ASP of $2,551 for the month of June, slightly higher than the PMA results as this is only MDTV models (CRT-RPTV models reduce the overall ASP as they are lower priced). By screen size, MDTV prices declined from 1.2% to 3.8% in the month of June compared to May pricing.

In flat-panel TV and business displays, PMA says the average price fell 6% in June vs. May pricing and is down 22% compared to June 2005. This has led to a year-over-year unit sales increase of 64%, but revenues only increased 28% because of decreases in the average street price. High inventory levels (45 days according to PMA) are driving prices down. The 30- to 35-inch LCD segment was the most popular in June, with a 29% unit market share that was fueled in part by a 6% drop in average street price to $1,250, according to PMA.

Pricing data from HDTV Retailer shows the biggest pricing drop occurred in the 40- to 44-inch segment at 5.6%, with other screen sizes showing drops of 3.2% to 3.6%. Our data is based on a web survey of about 60 US web sites representing 1347 data points. PMA surveys retailers to get their data.

Displaybank, which reports worldwide pricing, showed a 3.8% decline to $2,169 for 40-inch LCD-TV and a 7.0% decline to $2,223 for the 42-inch LCD-TV in comparing June and May pricing.

In PDP-TVs, Displaybank’s numbers break out 42-inch SD (down 1.4% to $1,394) and 42-inch HD pricing (down 6.7% to $1,865). Displaybank did not disclose its methodology.

PMA notes that the 40- to 45-inch plasma models continued to lose market share, falling 6 unit share points in June. This segment has experienced a 14 point decline in unit market share since last winter’s holiday season.

Data from HDTV Retailer shows that PDP-TV pricing in the 40- 45-inch range declined only 1.4% last month, much slower than LCD-TV declines. The ASP for a PDP in this size range reached $2,415 vs. $2,600 for LCD-TVs. This gap continues to narrow.

LG Electronics has basically come to the conclusion that LCDs will eclipse MDTVs and, now, PDP-TVs in this size range. Last week at its annual line show, the company showed no new MDTV models and only showed PDP models at 50 inches and larger. Segment after segment is falling to the LCD army with few able to hold a line in the sand. Clearly, not all in the PDP camp are ready to abandon the 40-inch class, but PDP’s Maginot line is being challenged every day. –CC