Guest post by Andrew Johnson.
Earlier this month I came across a very interesting study presented by a Corning representative regarding how often US consumers tend to replace their old television sets. According to the presentation, back in the old days of analogue and CRT TVs, consumers tended to purchase a new TV set every 9 years. However, recent studies show the replacement cycle of LCD TVs has now shrunk to reach an average of 6 years.
Although I was not surprised to hear about such changes in the behavior of consumers, I thought this would be a good opportunity to look into the factors that have overall contributed to making the TV market more and more similar to the computer industry and the shrinking of the overall TV replacement cycle.
Fast moving market
One of the reasons why consumers used to hang on to their TVs for years was that for years the TV industry introduced very few changes for a very long period of time. Up until the digital switchover, the most significant changes were represented by the introduction of colour TV, remote controls and larger screen sizes. With the TV market being slow compared to other fields, what incentive did consumer electronics manufacturers have to introduce new product lines? It was only when sales began to falter for a particular product that they’d bring out a different model with slightly different features.
Now think of all the innovations that have occurred within the TV market in recent years: LCD, plasma, high-definition, 3D, internet TV just to name a few. TVs are now on the same level as computers: if consumers want to keep up with the latest technology they have no choice but to upgrade their sets more often than they used to.
More affordable
It’s easy to see how lower prices must have contributed to the shrinking of the TV replacement cycle.
Although for the time being certain technologies such as 3D TV still remain a premium option, the current high level of competition in this field has gone hand in hand with the production of a wide range of TV sets suitable for all budgets.
As well as allowing us to embrace new technologies, low prices also mean that consumers are now tempted to buy a new TV set instead of paying for repairs.
So what do you think? When did you last purchase a new TV? Are you an early adopter of new technologies or do you think it’s going to be a while before you upgrade your current set? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
This is a guest post by Andrew Johnson. Andrew is an expert in electronic consumables. If you would like more information on TVs please visit Ebuyer.com
Photo credits: roboxley and artisandhu
Raju PP is the founder-editor of Technically Personal, which is one of the most widely read technology blogs on the web. He holds an Engineering degree in Electronics & Communication, and has previously worked as a Technical Specialist in Banking Software domain.
Nice post, very interesting to say the least. I agree with Market Watcher about the jump from a CRT to a LCD or Plasma. That jump was enough for probably 95% of the people that used to own a big old CRT television. The 3D is just fluff as there is very little content for that at the moment. 3D will become better as it's made more available as well as having more content out there that is 3D. So many high def tv's have become incredibly affordable for pretty much any budget now, it's kind hard not to own one. I think as the market for 3D opens up, we'll see more of those, but until then, it'll just be what it is now.
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