With Plummeting Sales, TV Manufacturers Have A Plan

It’s something TV manufacturers are concerned about, big time. Sales of TV sets both in this country and around the world are declining. Does it say something about technology where people are starting to depend on their phones for the majority of their entertainment?

Sales of TV sets were down 3 percent in this country last year, six percent around the world and it’s looking bad this year – sales are down 11 percent so far. And that’s a few years removed from record sales in 2010. It was when people were replacing their tube sets with flat screen TVs. It was after that spike in sales two out of three homes in the country had at least one high definition TV set.

Then the boom ended. Was it the economy? Lack of interest? Manufacturers have tried everything. They’ve added all kinds of features like internet connectors, they tried 3-D, they even created ultra-high definition sets.

The ultra-high definition sets have been a huge failure. 3-D sets aren’t going well either. Just a little over 10 percent say they would even consider buying one in the future. ESPN’s 3-D Network has been pulled off the air.

Manufacturers have a plan though – bigger is better. It’s one thing people can relate to. Instead of trying to promote and explain high-tech features, they’ll be focusing on size. Sales of 50-inch screens and bigger are up this year, much more than smaller sets, so they’re hoping if they just push size – it’ll sell the fancy features too.