HD TV Booming 370 million Screens By 2010

HD TV is booming with IDC forcasting that LCD HD TV sets are set to out strip Plasma by big margins.

HD TV is growing with IDC forcasting that sales of HD LCD TV will outstrip Plasma by a significant margin. The standards for digital TV have been in place since 1994. It has only been in the last few years that the sale of HDTV sets got interesting. While the Wonderful World of Disney sparked the sale of color TV sets, sporting events like the soccer World Cup due next year and the Olympics have driven the demand for digital TV — especially large flat screens.

With digital TV becoming more affordable by the day, the demand for high-def home entertainment is growing steadily according to industry observations:
· 74% of European households will have digital TV by 2009
· 10.4 million digital TVs were sold in Asia in 2004 and 28.8 million will be sold in 2008 (Australia falls under Asia)
· 20.9 million US will have digital TV by the end of the year, 37 million by 2008
· 30 million digital TV subscribers in China this year
· 14 million British households have digital TV
· 15% of US adults plan to get HDTV
· Digital TV sales were up 70% in 2004
· By 2010 more than 370 million sets should be in use worldwide

While sales are good in front and rear projection systems, it is the flat screen ( plasma and LCD ) segment that has gotten all of the manufacturer attention (Figure 1).