Flat-Panel TV Owners Own More TVs
Flat-panel TV owners worldwide are likely to own more TVs than those with other types, according to a report from DisplaySearch.
Owners of at least one flat-panel TV in developed countries owned 30 percent more TVs per household than households that didn't own any flat-panel TVs, the report said.
The tendency for flat-panel TV adopters to own more TVs is strong worldwide, but even stronger in emerging markets compared to developed countries, such as the United States. In emerging countries, the difference was even higher on average, with flat panel owners having 37 percent more TVs than non-flat panel owners.
This indicates that a stronger separation of buying power among upper and lower income classes, the report said.
The news comes on the heels of a recent Nielson report that said the number of U.S. households with TV sets has dropped for the first time in 20 years, due in part to poverty and the switch to watching content online .
"Whether a consumer resides in an economically developed or emerging country, those who are willing to adopt new TV technologies possess greater interest in owning TVs in general, have higher incomes, and can afford more TVs, or both," said Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch's director of North America TV market research, in a statement.
The study also found that the number of TVs per person closely relates to a country's socioeconomic standing.
For example, the United States has the highest number of TVs for each household, while India has the fewest, as one might expect from a country with fewer households able to afford a TV, the report said.
Despite this, some countries have a higher number of TV sets for each household than might be expected, such as Mexico, which ranked fourth among the countries studied.
"When looking at the distribution of average number of TVs per person among the countries in the study, the top six were developed countries, with the emerging countries in the bottom eight. This shows a fairly linear relationship with socioeconomic status, with India and rural China accounting for the fewest number of TVs per person," Gagnon said.
The United Kingdom and Japan have been the most active in replacing TVs over the last three years, the study found.
Some emerging countries, such as Indonesia and urban China, have also been very active in replacing TV sets. Since these countries generally have less history of TV purchasing in general, the average age of TVs overall is lower than in very mature TV markets, so any replaced TV is likely to be younger.
