Despite the number of 3D TVs flooding the market, 3D adoption still seems slow -- or does it?
According to a new online survey by Vision Critical, 5 percent of Americans currently own a 3D TV. That number drops to 2 percent in the UK, with a mere 1 percent of Canadians that are enjoying the technology at home. It doesn't really seem like a lot, does it?
Those numbers sound kind of sad, and they get worse, according to this report. Of the respondents, 81 percent of Americans said that they weren't planning to purchase a 3D TV in the next six months. The main reason cited was price, followed by the need to wear 3D glasses.
"There appears to be a significant perceived lack of value with 3D TVs among consumers in all three countries," said Matt Kleinschmit, Vision Critical's senior VP. "This is not surprising given that many people may have only recently migrated to high definition TVs, and now they are being asked yet again to upgrade to a new technology. At the same time, early adopters of Plasma or LCD HD TVs discovered that there was very little HD content when they first purchased these devices, and then witnessed prices drop dramatically over the course of several years. It seems these same consumers may have learned their lesson and are sitting on the sidelines of the initial 3D TV technology wave. The inherent value proposition of these initial 3D TVs, coupled with the inconvenience of having to wear 3D glasses at home is just too much of a barrier to take the plunge."
The numbers and reasons sound valid. However, let's take a closer look. First, the fact is that 3D TV only became available one year ago with the introduction of Panasonic's and Samsung's first 3D-enabled flat panel TVs. 5% of the market doesn't sound too bad when you consider that 3D-ready sets have been available for less than a year. Also, the report fails to mention how many of those surveyed are planning to purchase any TV in the next six months, let alone a 3D TV. Also, those responses could change if the time was stretched out to a year (for the holidays!). It does say that 81 percent of Americans, 81 percent of Britons, and 84 percent of Canadians are aware of at-home 3D TV.
Next, they aren't the only ones making predictions. Last November, Futuresource Consulting predicted that 4 million 3D TVs would be sold worldwide by the end of 2010, with that number doubling for 2011. Our own Chris Chiarella visited Samsung earlier this month, and they were predicting that their 3D sales would grow six times over 2010. Another firm, Strategy Analytics, recently said that 34 percent of U.S. homes will have a 3D-ready TV by 2014. Not too shabby for a technology that's only been available for a little over a year, wouldn't you say?
Also, prices are coming down -- to a point. Vision Critical says that respondents were also asked what they'd be willing to pay for a name-brand 46-inch 3D TV. Americans said $753, Canadians said $785, and Britons said $625 for a 40-incher. The ones that said they would buy a 3D TV said that Sony, Samsung and LG were top choices, but price would be the final deciding factor.
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