September 22, 2005

And the Love Affair with HDTV Continues

When we started hearing about HDTV back in the late 90s, like most consumers, I thought HDTV was just a lot of hype (just like all of those poor suckers who said buy Microsoft stock, glad I didn't listen!). Of course when we saw HDTV on the showroom floor, most of us were pretty much blown away. According to DMAsia.com, the love affair with HDTV isn't about to slow down:

By the end of this year there will be 28.6m high-definition television sets in homes worldwide, according a report from market research firm Informa Telecoms & Media. By 2010 that number will be more than three times larger, at 106.2m homes.

Here's the statistic that really amazed me:

Importantly, of the 28.6m HD households, just 9.8m have the necessary set top box (or integrated HDTV set) to enable content to be viewed. i.e. they are actually viewing HD content, rather than simply having the potential to do so. This means that only a third of homes with an HDTV set are receiving HD content. By 2010, HD programming is expected to be much more readily available, and more than 75 per cent of HDTV set homes will be receiving content, or 80m homes.

My guess is that a lot of people buying HDTVs don't understand the tools needed for receiving digital channels. If you're thinking about HDTV, a great starting point is HDTVInfoPort.com. There's plenty of resources to help educate consumers on what HDTV is and the main considerations when buying an HDTV.

at DMAsia.com