As consumers start to move away from large flat panel TV’s plasma sales have come under pressure with the market declining 8% during the last quarter according to research Company DisplaySearch. However the big winner during the last quarter was Panasonic who grew their share to 47 percent, followed by Samsung 26 percent and LGE 20 percent.
As consumers start to move away from large flat panel TV’s plasma sales have come under pressure with the market declining 8% during the last quarter according to research Company DisplaySearch. However the big winner during the last quarter was Panasonic who grew their share to 47 percent, followed by Samsung 26 percent and LGE 20 percent.
In Australia according to GFK Data Panasonic were #1 in plasma sales up to Decemner 2008. They grew their unit sales to 39% LG were second with 25% and Samsung were third with 20%. When it came to value share Panasonic had 44% LG who are known to be big discounters had 24% and Samsung 19%.
Paul Read the Director of Consumer Products at Panasonic Australia said “We are seeing continued growth with plasma and we are confident that our new models will help us retail our position in the market”.
Total plasma panel shipments for 2008 were 15.1 million, up 26 percent from 2007. This represents stronger growth than the previous year said DisplaySearch who also claimed that price erosion took a toll on revenue growth with revenues falling 13 percent quarter to quarter and 21 percent year to year. However, 2008 annual revenues showed positive growth, at 6 percent
In another plus for the Japanese Company Panasonic remained the dominant supplier of 1080p plasma panels, accounting for 78 percent of units shipped. Samsung was the No. 2 1080p plasma panel supplier, at 12 percent unit share, DisplaySearch said.
Fifty-inch PDP shipments share fell from 29 percent, to 27 percent, in fourth quarter 2008. This was due to a share increase for 42-inch displays, which grew from 49 percent, to 53 percent, in fourth-quarter 2008 due to lower pricing, an important consideration among recession-impacted consumers.
Until the third quarter of 2008, 32-inch was an important growth category for plasma panels, DisplaySearch said, but 32-inch shipment share fell in fourth quarter 2008 due to 32-inch LCD price erosion, which eliminated a pricing advantage for 32-inch plasma panels.
Shipments of 32-inch plasma panels fell 47 percent quarter to quarter to just 260,000 units, from a peak of more than 538,000 in the first quarter of 2008, according to the report.
