The flat panel TV market is in a volatile state claims a senior GFK executive with vendors and retailers facing a potential crash due to falling prices and saturation demand.
Speaking at the NARTA Conference in Europe, GFK, Australia and New Zealand MD Gary Lamb told retailers that during the last four years, the average price of an LCD TV had fallen 66% to just over $1,000.
Large screen Plasma he said was already below the $1,000 barrier and was still falling.
Lamb told the audience that the $3.2 billion TV market is larger than the rest of the consumer electronics marketplace and that TV prices were in “freefall” and that retailers would find it difficult going forward to match the 3 million television units sold in Australia during the past 12 months.
“This growth is not sustainable: he said.
Narta MD Kay Spencer called it, “The biggest wake-up call” for ignorant and complacent retailers according to James Wells at Appliance Retailer.
Lamb said that the value of the flat panel TV market in Australia has already begun to decline” and that finding any form of growth would be difficult for retailers in the current environment.
Lamb said that there were 140 private label brands in Australia which now had 32% market share.
