Price drops are allowing more immersive gaming experiences for Americans.
Plasma prices hold steady
Meanwhile, plasma TV pricing has held steady, contracting by just 7.3 percent during the past three years. Plasma TVs are being marketed as more exclusive, high-end products. Almost all plasma models now available have 3-D and Internet-connectivity features.
Availability of small TVs dwindles in the US
Brands in the United States are moving away from selling a broad range of smaller sized, 32-inch models. Instead, these companies are focusing on offering a wider range of LCD TV models within the 40-inch to 55-inch bracket. While the 32-inch size still accounts for the largest number of models, the other most common sets—in order of number of product offerings—are 55-inch, 46-inch, 40-inch and 42-inch.
Big TVs gain bigger presence
Sets with extremely large display sizes have also dramatically increased their presence in the product lines of TV brands during the past year. In particular, 55-inch sets surged to 19 percent of the number of models in all brand lines available at retail in the fourth quarter of 2012, up from 8 percent in the first quarter of 2010. A big surge also took place for 60-inch TVs and their place among brand product lines, rising to 8 percent, up from 1 percent during the same period.
The number of shipments for both 55- and 60-inch sets has also increased sharply, and manufacturers are planning to offer a wider range of models at these sizes.
