CEA reports US DTV sales have 'sky-rocketed'

[Gregg Lengling]

Surpassing projected sales totals by several hundred thousand units, factory-to-dealer sales of digital television (DTV) products in the US in 2002 totalled 2,487,502 units and E3.9bn (USD4.2bn), according to figures released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

The 2002 sales surpassed the 2001 total by 73 per cent in units and 61 per cent in financial terms. CEA defines DTV products as integrated sets and monitors displaying active vertical scanning lines of at least 480p and, in the case of integrated sets, receiving and decoding ATSC terrestrial digital transmissions.

"Celebrating these numbers, the recent plug-and-play agreement with cable and the momentum in the analogue to DTV transition makes for the best possible entrance into the new year," said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. "We now have sold just under 5m DTV units, which represents a phenomenal E7.9bn (USD8.6bn) market investment in this transition with average unit prices well within the reach of middle income consumers."

CEA has released additional DTV sales figures, including single-month sales figures for December 2002, which totalled 308,388 units.