about-electronics.eu

Home Cinema Choice: Samsung has claimed the number one TV position in the UK for the second year running.

Latest Gfk data released make Samsung the number one brand in overall sales, with a 23.8 per cent market share (up from just 0.7 per cent in 2000).

Andy Griffiths, VP of CE for Samsung UK is predictably thrilled: ‘It just shows that Samsung’s offering in this market is stronger than ever.’

Samsung is expected to be the first brand to release LED LCD TVs into the UK featuring Yahoo’s new TV widget platform.

read more

Tech Digest: Despite the news all being about the end of the universe and how you’re best off mashing up all your remaining money into papier-mache logs to burn to keep warm, one statistic on the UK economic trends chart is pointing UP – sales of HD LCD and plasmas TVs are still rocketing.

Stats compiled by GFK for the BBC show that sales of fancy flat high-def TVs increased by nearly 11% in the last three months of 2008 compared to the same period of 2007, presumably because no one’s got jobs any more, so sitting around in the house watching TV is now the main occupation of the UK population.

read more

Home Cinema Choice: More than a million TVs were sold in the UK during October compared to the same period last year, according to new sales data released by market analysts GfK. 

The UK’s move to digital switch-over, plus heavy discounting and the credit crunch are all credited with the massive sales boom.

Explains David Scott, chief executive of Digital UK, the body coordinating Britain’s switch to digital TV: ‘With household budgets under pressure, the extra channels and features that come with digital TV offer great value entertainment. It’s also good news that in opting to buy digital, more households than ever are ready for the switch to digital TV which will affect more than five million homes next year.’

read more

GfK: Recent research has shown that 4 out of 5 (83 per cent) of people in the UK believe the Wii console increases family interaction, versus just half for the PS3 (52 per cent) and XBOX 360 (49 per cent).

In particular, half believed that both the Nintendo Wii and DS (50 per cent) had a more positive effect on children, compared to just over a quarter (28 per cent) for the XBOX 360.

The research, carried out by GfK NOP in July, reveals that half (49 per cent) of those who regularly use a Wii stated that it helped them to feel close to their children, compared to just 38 per cent for the XBOX 360.  Moreover, 4 out of 5 Wii owners (79 per cent) agreed that the Wii is a good source of entertainment for family occasions, dropping to just over half (56 per cent) for PS3 owners.

While console games playing has traditionally been by oneself or with friends, the Wii appears to encourage people to play amongst the family. Close to a half (46 per cent) of Wii owners say they play Child against Parent (compared to a fifth – 21 per cent – for PS3 owners)  and 43 per cent of Wii owners play with their Spouse or Partner (compared to just 27 per cent of XBOX 360 owners). Less than one in ten (9 per cent) of all people asked claimed that playing on a Wii is unsociable; while one in three (33 per cent) claim the PS3 is unsociable.

read more

HiddenWires: At the start of 2008, there were very positive signals about the continuing success of Consumer Electronics. The uncertainty of the first three weeks of December was quickly forgotten as a very strong performance in the post Christmas sales period meant that turnover for the whole year reached £8.9 million (€11 million), representing an increase of 7.6% over 2006 according to GfK.

Not for the first time, it seemed that sales of TVs knew no bounds, as the already impressive total registered in 2006 (just over 7 million), itself an all time record, was effortlessly surpassed as 8.8 million products were sold in 2007. However, it seems inconceivable that there will be a further increase of more than 22% in 2008 (or 15% in value) which was the principal contributor to the CE market’s overall wellbeing last year.

read more

ScreenAfrica: Satellite operator SES Astra says one in five European homes now has an HDTV set. “More than 37m HD Ready sets have been bought in Europe since Feb 2005,” said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES Astra. Using data drawn from GfK Retail & Technology, Oudendijk says almost 40m HD Ready sets, either Plasma, LCD or rear projection, are in use, while another 24-25m flat panel sets (without the HD Ready tag) are in use.

The 2006 sales figure of about 15m sets sold was some two years ahead of forecast, Oudendijk said. The current status of more than 37m sets sold has been achieved three years ahead of the 2005 predictions.

Based on the latest data from Screen Digest, Oudendijk expected Europe to have some 400 HDTV channels by 2012, with about 160 of them on satellite. The bulk of this number will be available only to pay-TV viewers.

Further research from SES Astra has also revealed the 83% of the satellite TV households in Europe and North Africa are digitised. This is more than four times more than in cable where of all households where 20% are digital.

read more

Hiddenwires: Total Blu-ray Disc movie sales across Europe have reached over two million units it was announced today by the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee. The most recent figures show Blu-ray Disc movie sales totalled 2.37 million, which means that 79% of the High Definition movie discs bought by consumers year-to-date across Europe were in the Blu-ray Disc format compared with 21% in the HD DVD format, according to sales data provided by Media Control Gfk International1.

The news of the two million milestone comes within two months of the announcement of one million unit sales, which was achieved in early November last year. This news illustrates a rapidly accelerating rate in the growth of Blu-ray Disc sales across Europe, so the Blu-ray Disc Association says.

A graphic illustration of Blu-ray Disc’s rapid establishment comes through direct comparison of its performance with that of the DVD-Video format at a comparable stage in its development. DVD-Video was first introduced into Western Europe in 1997, and the following year some 230,000 DVD players were installed and 2.0 million discs were sold through. In comparison, Blu-ray Disc made its first tentative launch in Western Europe in 2006, and the following year some 3.2 million PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) consoles and 34,000 standalone players were installed while 2.3 million Blu-ray Discs sold through according to data from Screen Digest2.

read more

Sky News: Two months after the million milestone was hit, total Blu-ray disc movie sales across Europe have reached over two million units, it has been announced in a press release issued by the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee.

The most recent Gfk figures show Blu-ray disc movie sales totalled 2.37 million, which, the group says, means that 79% of the high definition movie discs bought by consumers year-to-date across Europe were Blu-ray compared with 21% in the HD DVD format.

The PS3 is being credited as one reason for the successful sales figures. “Sony Europe is delighted with the popularity of PS3 and the positive impact it’s had on Blu-ray Disc sales”, commented David Walstra, director, Home Video Europe, Sony Europe.

Sales up to Christmas saw over half a million Blu-ray movie discs sold in December, outselling HD DVD by 3:1 with a 75% market share.

read more

High Definition DVDs aren’t doing so well for themselves in Europe, with Sony’s Blu-ray standard outselling them by miles reports Reuters.The Blu-ray disc association said in a statement released today that Blu-ray discs had spilled over the 1 million unit barrier, and with the PS3′s Blu-ray game discs, the figure is over 21 million units. Of all the high def discs bought by the great unwashed in Europe this year, 73 per cent were Blu-ray, and 27 per cent were Toshiba’s HD DVD, says Media Control Gfk International.

read more

The Register: It’s official: Brits believe Apple’s iPhone is too expensive. Local pollster GfK NOP asked 500 people across the nation and found almost three-quarters of them say the handset’s too highly priced to buy.

Some 88 per cent of the sample said they had heard of the Jesus Phone. Alas for Apple, a mere two per cent said they would be asking Santa for one this Chrimbo. A further five per cent of respondents said they like the look of the thing but are quite keen on a number of other phones too.

Only a slightly higher percentage – eight per cent – expressed a dislike for the much-hyped handset.

The fact only 12 per cent of the sample said they had never heard of the iPhone suggests that Apple and O2′s marketing is creating awareness of the product. However, as The Register exclusively revealed yesterday, that’s not translating into sales and contract activations.

read more

HDTV News: According to new figures released by the European HD DVD Promotional Group, HD DVD player owners in Europe have bought an average of 3.8 movies each, compared to Blu-ray player owners who bought just 0.6 movies each.The figures were collated by GfK, an independent research group. GfK analysed the number of movies sold for all HD players, including standalone players and consoles, in the UK, France, Germany, Spain Italy and Benelux countries.

In the UK, HD DVD owners bought an average of 3.7 movies each, four times higher than the number bought by Blu-ray player owners, who bought an average of 0.8 movies each.

Spain recorded the highest rate, with HD DVD owners buying an average of 5.7 movies per player, while Blu ray owners bought only 0.4 movies each.

However, GfK included the PS3 in its statistics, which could be misleading, as the PS3 is predominantly a games console which is bought by many people who have no interest in watching Blu-ray movies.

read more

VNUNet: Consumer electronics sales are booming in western Europe – consumers have spent some 18 per cent more in the first half of 2006 than in the same period last year, according to a new report on consumer spending from GfK.

The sector is benefiting from consumers investing more money in expensive and higher value consumer electronics products. GfK is predicting that Europeans will have spent €44bn by the end of the year.

In western Europe, 61 per cent of total sales in the industry during the first half of 2006 were generated in the UK, Germany and France. The greatest proportion, 25 per cent, was attributable to the UK.

This was followed by the German market with a share of 19 per cent and France with 17 per cent. The remainder is spread across seven other western European countries in which GfK collects data.

Sweden tops the growth charts with sales up 23 per cent compared to the first half of 2005. Sales were up year-on-year by 20 per cent in France and 18 per cent in the UK.

TVs are the strongest growth driver in consumer electronics and sales are up 35 per cent on the first half of 2005. The main reason is consumers increasingly turning away from traditional CRT sets and switching to flat-screen LCD or plasma models.

Sales of LCD TVs were up 125 per cent. TVs with 32in screens and over were particularly popular, with one in three consumers buying a set of this size.

read more