14 DAY TRIAL // You'd think that the drop in PC demand would be the only visible crisis plaguing the technology industry, but that is not the case. According to IHS iSuppli analysts, the global TV market is suffering as well.
In fact, the global TV industry has been declining for two years now, almost constantly. After an 11% surge in 2010 and a 1% rise in 2011, it fell 7% in 2012.
Now IHS reveals that total shipments of TVs, for the entire world, went down from 238.3 million to 225.1 million units.
People with limited finances from North America and Western Europe have been putting off the acquisition of a new TV.
It doesn't help that, during the previous years, those regions basically had their fill of flat-panel TV sets. People aren't about to set aside their perfectly capable television sets in favor of slightly different-looking ones.
China also went through a change, of sorts. While its sales of TVs grew in the first six months of 2013, they fell during the third and fourth quarters. No longer is China a rapidly growing emerging market. It has mostly saturated as well.
Thus, all in all, LCD TV shipments in China, in the third quarter, went from 14 million in 2012 to 13 million, while Q4 shipments slipped from 14.5 million to 14.4 million.
That overall yearly shipments still rose slightly compared to 2012 was a small wonder really. Not that it made much of a difference for the world as a whole.
Asia-Pacific accounted for 23.8 million of the total 225.1 million, which is a bit less than the 25.4 million of 2012.
Low-cost TVs like CRT TV sets have mostly disappeared, and so have older-generation LCD TVs, and plasmas. That left only more expensive LCDs with LED backlighting, which didn't help appeal.
As for North America and Western Europe, they only sell LCD TVs now, and suffered 9% and 4% losses on year, and shipment decline of up to 14%.
Moving forward, LCD TV sales are expected to get better, but there are no specific forecasts yet. Possibly because analysts do not want to be so wrong about things anymore.
Still, it is believed that Latin America, at least, will experience a good period these next 3 years, thanks to the market improvements associated with the FIFA World Cup soccer championship (2014), the analog-to-digital changeover expected in 2015, and the Summer Olympics in 2016.