iSuppli: HDTV Shipments Pass Standard TVs

Market analysis firm iSuppli says shipments of high-definition televisions have now surpassed shipments of standard-def TVs.

Market analysis firm iSuppli has released its forecasts for the growth of the high-definition television market through 2012, and the report contains one interesting tidbit: in 2008, shipments of high-definition televisions have already overtaken shipments of standard-definition televisions.

“The technology is everywhere these days—on broadcast television, on cable, on satellite, and on the Internet,” said iSuppli senior analyst Sheri Greenspan, in a release. “You can’t escape hearing about something being broadcast in HD or getting the most out of your HD receiver or the most HD channels available.”

Overall, iSuppli is forecasting that HDTV unit shipments will increase to 241.2 million per year by 2012, which is a compound annual growth rate of about 20 percent. Conversely, iSuppli sees standard definition television shipments declining to just 23.1 million units by 2012, a steep decline from 114.8 million units shipped in 2007. By 2012, iSuppli also sees high-definition set-top boxes accounting for half the overall set-top box market. And these numbers aren’t just for the United States: they’re worldwide.

iSuppli cites rapidly falling prices for HD televisions as well as rapidly expanding availability of HD content as two primary factors behind adoption of HD television—and while Blu-ray winning the high-definition disc format war is in the mix somewhere, iSuppli also notes the costs of supporting and offering MPEG4/H.264 video are also coming down, making it more practical for all kinds of providers to offer high-definition content.