Plasma sales plummet

According to shopping site Reevoo-com, the plasma TV sector lost 50% of its market share at the end of last year, falling from 22% in October to 8% in December.

The fact that some manufacturers are pulling out of plasma will do nothing for consumers’ confidence, but Reevoo.com’s research pinpoints a number of other factors in the technology’ decline.

Flat screen TVs have been a success story, and are now found in most UK homes.

Many people aren’t ready to replace their main TV just yet, but an increasing number are purchasing LCD TVs, which are available in smaller sizes than plasma, as a second set, for a bedroom, or even a caravan.

The recession is another factor in pushing people towards cheaper LCD TVs in preference to the more expensive plasma option.

TV buffs were willing to pay a bit more for a plasma set when the quality gap was bigger, but there is now little difference in the picture quality provided by LCD TVs and plasma.

Sam Bostock, category manager for televisions at Reevoo.com said: “This shift to LCD is inevitable given the relative flexibility in the production process.

“LCD panels now exist in a huge range of electrical products and with that versatility they were always likely to out-do plasma,” he said.

“Customer reviews prove that LCDs perform just as well as plasmas, and the great thing is they’re more environmentally friendly too,” Bostock added.

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