DVD Player Sales Increase 216%

In November, factory-to-dealer sales of TV/DVD combinations reached more than 180,000 units, a 216 percent increase over November 2002.

Sales of standalone DVD players jumped 45 percent this month, compared to the same period in 2002, totaling more than 3.6 million units.

The year-to-date figures for DVD products also improved, with TV/DVD combination sales now totaling 1.35 million units, a 300 percent increase over 2002.Year-end shipments for stand-alone DVD players have increased some 29 percent with unit sales totaling nearly 19 million units.

“With half of U.S. households still without a DVD player, DVD hardware remains a very high volume product category within the CE marketplace”, says Sean Wargo, Director of Industry Analysis at CEA. “Great discounts on players are also helping to keep traffic up at retail this holiday.”

Manufacturer-to-dealer sales of camcorders also showed promise. During November, 984,831 units were shipped, an increase of 41 percent compared to the same period in 2002, pushing year-to-date sales of camcorders up by five percent, to nearly 5.4 million units.

Data cited in this release is available for purchase through CEA’s Market Activity Reports and Analysis (MARA) program. With more than 500 reports published annually, the MARA program is recognized as the “authoritative source” for data on the consumer electronics industry.