Audio Video News

According to the latest Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) statistics, released March 16, overall video-product sales had their best showing ever for the first eight weeks of a calendar year, with sales up 7%, to 6 million units. Video products also enjoyed their best February performance ever, with overall sales up 7%, to 3.2 million units. Leading an impressive set of video-hardware sales, large-screen and projection TVs were up 8% and 14%, respectively, in the year to date for 1998.

Projection televisions and camcorders reported record year-to-date levels, climbing 14% and 21%, respectively, since the beginning of 1998. February camcorder sales rose an unprecedented (and impressive) 35%, to 255,000 units sold.

Color-television sales rose 3% in February, and were up 11% for the year to date. This increase was aided in part by sales of TVs with larger screens (i.e., 30" and larger), which rose approximately 8%.

TV/VCR combinations and VCRs both rose 4% in shipments: to 179,000 units and 1.1 million units, respectively. However, TV/VCR sales for the year to date lessened almost negligibly, by less than half a percentage point.

DVD players sold 34,236 units in February, for a total of 68,263 units sold since the beginning of the year.