Black Friday is almost upon us, and the Consumer Technology Association predicts that close to half of the U.S. adult population is planning to purchase some form of tech or tech accessory this week. Additional research from IHS also is indicating that many of those tech-leaning consumers may have sugarplum visions of a pretty new 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) in their homes soon.
Shipments of 4K TVs more than doubled during the third quarter of this year, climbing to more than 3.3 million units, Paul Gagnon, senior manager with IHS Technology, reports. IHS expects a strong holiday season for the sets since 4K is less expensive than it has been, and the TVs now feature some of the larger screen sizes that consumers desire, he points out.
“IHS Markit is forecasting that in Q4 2016, North America 4K TV average prices will drop by more than 20 percent compared to Q4 2015,” Gagnon says. “This despite a sharp increase in LCD TV panel prices in recent months as Black Friday promotions were negotiated prior to the cost increases.”
With falling prices, consumers look like they will probably cozy up to the larger screen sizes. According to IHS, the average TV size will grow to nearly 45 inches in Q4 2016, with 55- inch 4K sales expected to be robust with promotional prices well below $600 for the holidays.
Beyond 4K streaming options like those from Netflix and others, consumers have a growing number of UHD content choices. DirecTV touted several UHD sporting event broadcasts this year such as some coverage in 4K from the Masters, Major League Baseball, and more. On the cable operator side, eight small- and medium-sized cable ops have signed up for 4K content trials via a satellite-based solution from SES, which uses either managed IP multicast DOCSIS 3.0 streams or traditional digital QAM transport streams.
Danny White, director of product management at enTouch Systems (which is involved in the SES 4K trials) says the operator’s customers are buying the TVs in anticipation of new viewing potentials. “enTouch is well positioned to provide game-changing 4K content quickly and cost-effectively to our customers across the Greater Houston area, thanks to our collaboration with SES and its breakthrough Ultra HD solution,” he says.
