Demand for LCD TVs is expected to grow by 7% to 225 million units in 2012, driven by demand from the emerging markets.
GfK says Plasma TV demand is expected to shrink further as LCD TVs become more competitive in the large screen segment.
Emerging markets showed resilience in 2011 with 34% growth on 2010, led by strength in Emerging Asia and Latin America. Brazil in particular, saw high growth as a result of aggressive marketing by manufacturers. In China year-on-year growth, which halved from 2010 to 2011, showed steady recovery late last year, helped by accelerating rural markets demand.
Growth in emerging markets is projected to remain solid in 2012, but decelerate uniformly. LCD TV markets are showing signs of maturing in Central Europe and Latin America, limiting their future growth, while in Emerging Asia demand is projected to grow at the fastest rate worldwide due to the continuing prevalence of CRT TVs.
While some sources suggest the Olympic Games will boost demand, GfK says this is unlikely. Potential increases will more likely be seen ahead of Euro 2012 being held in the emerging countries of Ukraine and Poland, where consumers are likely to bring forward the replacement of CRT TVs.
