Audio Video News

The latest holiday season numbers are now in, and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is reporting that manufacturer-to-dealer video products sales in December, 2000 grew by 15% over last year's figures, giving a total of more than 6.4 million units shipped, and culminating a year of strong growth. The CEA reports that total sales of video products in 2000 reached 67.8 million units, representing a 12% increase over total sales for 1999. The trade group adds that the year finished with sales increases in almost every category.

DVD is commonly credited for driving the video market. The CEA says that, in December, stand-alone DVD player sales reached 1.3 million units—approximately a 102% increase over December, 1999. For the entire year, sales of DVD players rose by almost 109%, totaling sales of 8.5 million units in 2000. DVD player sales have reached 14 million units after only four years on the market, according to the CEA.

Other video product growth areas: Camcorder sales increased by 40% in December, and, with 5.8 million units sold in 2000, total sales were up 22% over 1999. The CEA says that direct-view analog TV sets also had a great year—sales climbed nearly 22% in December, with 2.5 million units sold, resulting in 4% growth for 2000, approximately 24.2 million units. Total sales of VCR decks for the year reached just over 23 million units, which, despite the presence of DVD and hard-disc-based video recorders, represents an all-time high for this product. Finally, despite losing some sales to the steadily emerging DTV market, analog projection TV sales remained roughly equivalent to last year's, with 1.2 million units sold.

CEA's Gary Shapiro calls 2000 "a successful year for video sales," explaining, "Consumers' increasing interest in digital technologies and the home theater experience are responsible for the impressive figures generated by DVD players, digital camcorders, and similar products. We expect 2001 to continue this growth, with strong sales of new and progressive digital products such as personal video recorders and digital television."