By Retrevo's Andrew Eisner
This has been a big year for 3DTV, with interest in 3D movies stimulated by the blockbuster 3D movie, Avatar and 3DTV getting all the attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. With 3D Blu-ray movies becoming available and 3D channels coming online including a recently launched 3D ESPN, it looks like momentum for 3DTV can only increase. This Retrevo Pulse study looks at 3DTV; who’s going to buy one and what, if anything would prevent someone from buying a 3DTV.
3DTV Awareness Growing Fast
Awareness around 3DTV grew dramatically after Avatar was released and continued to grow throughout the year. The question is; does awareness translate to sales? It looks like it may.
Who’s Planning on Buying a 3DTV This Year?
Of the group planning to buy a TV this year roughly 35% (11% of 31%) said they plan to buy a 3DTV. As more 3D programming becomes available, more 3D Blu-ray movies go on sale, and prices drop for 3DTVs we could see 3DTVs become a big holiday seller this year.
Is 3DTV Hurting HDTV Sales?
With the rising interest in 3DTV and wary consumers looking to avoid buying a non-3D HDTV set that could become obsolete soon; we wondered if 3DTV might be affecting sales of HDTVs. As it turns out, more than 1/3 of the respondents said they were holding back purchasing an HDTV because of 3DTV. Of course, that still leaves a lot of TV buyers who are not going to let 3DTV get in the way of their HDTV purchase.
What's Preventing 3DTV Sales?
When we asked consumers what would prevent them from buying a 3DTV this year most respondents said they were too expensive. That was followed by a feeling they didn't need one. Glasses came up third on the list while lack of programming appeared to be least of everyone’s concerns. With more buyers saying high prices are the main obstacle, aggressive pricing, especially like we have seen for HDTVs in the past around Black Friday and the holidays, might help remove that obstacle and drive more 3DTV sales. In other words, if price is the major problem for consumers, the solution is clearly in attractive 3DTV deals.
Conclusion
Despite skeptics who say 3DTV is going to have a hard time in the marketplace because of problems like the need to wear expensive glasses and the lack of Avatar-quality content, we’re feeling optimistic about the 3DTV market. Consumers are saying price and lack of a perceived need are the two biggest obstacles which can easily be addressed simply with price cuts and marketing. Problems with having to purchase and wear glasses on the other hand could be harder to solve but fortunately appear lower on the list of objections. When all is said and done we say this should be a good year for 3DTV