Consumers Not Tempted By New HDTV Sets With 3D & Internet Connectivity

It seems that over recent years no sooner is a new TV-based technology launched, it becomes old news and the next display technology starts to make an appearance. HDTV manufacturers have been racing to launch one technology after another when it comes to TVs in the hope that this will persuade consumers to re-enter the market to buy a new television model with more advanced features.

HDTV buyer

The recent DisplaySearch Global TV Replacement Study has shown that there are a number of common reasons why people tend to trade in their existing TVs for new ones. This includes trading in the old set in order to get a bigger, newer TV that performs much better than their old one. Of course, another reason is if the old set is broken or on its last legs.

TV makers have been hoping that introducing one new technology after another will help to drive the next TV replacement cycle, and entice even those with relatively new HDTVs purchased only a few years ago to consider upgrading to a shiny new television which offers advanced features (such as LED backlight, 3D capabilities or internet connectivity) but costs slightly more.

However, officials believe that despite their best efforts television manufacturers have not yet found quite the right formula to persuade those who already have a decent set at home to consider trading it in for a new high-tech one. According to the report, both 3D capabilities and internet connectivity were found to be largely insignificant factors in motivating people to replace their existing televisions.

Paul Gagnon from DisplaySearch said: “While it is valuable to know how often people are upgrading or adding new TVs to the home, it’s also important to understand why. Some of the findings from this study show that newer features are not yet strong drivers of new TV purchases compared to fundamentals like trading up in size or getting a flat panel TV.”

7 comments

  1. 3D is the biggest con, they keep trying to con us its the latest thing, crap!!
    They tried it in the movies in the 30`s then the 50`s and again the mid 70`s and finally in the mid 80`s.
    They keep coming back to this crap, at best it looks like a bunch of 2D slices stuck together one behind each other, at worst it look bloody awful and always gives you eye strain.

    stay well clear of this overpriced crap, gimmick, fad…….

  2. I wouldn’t say 3D is a con exactly, but it certainly has very limited appeal. As far as I can see, the main 3D content is in animated movies like Avatar and the like.
    If you want to pay out all that extra cash (plus another £100 or so for a pair of glasses) to keep your kids happy then fine. Having gone a long way towards perfecting the picture and motion enhancements I wish they would concentrate on getting the sound better.
    Having said that I’ve just bought a Sammy 32D6530, but the main reason (apart from it looking drop-dead gorgeous) was to get access to IPlayer and 4OD on the telly. I don’t expect much from the full browser, and the keyboard inputting is gonna prove tedious for sure.
    The 3D part of it will collect dust as far as I can see.

  3. I feel like 3D is still to difficult and costly for most, especially if you have a large family.

  4. 3D just seems like a novelty to me which I would try once then never use again. I recently purchased a Sony S380 Blu Ray player for £70 which can access internet content , IPlayer etc which is a good and cheaper alternative to buying a new tv.

    Saying that I am looking to upgrade from a 32 inch to a 40-42 inch tv and I am now looking to pay maximum £400 instead of min £700 for a 3dtv.

  5. – first off, poor out-of-the-box image quality!!!
    Having already paid £1,000 for brand-new TV, why should I bother with yet another calibration? Why can’t they calibrate it properly right on assembly line?
    Hey, do we calibrate a car immediately after we’ve bought it?

    – poor SD to HD scaler: most content come in SD resolution, while modern TVs have HD panels — scaling to panel’s resolution produces jaggies, halos, soap opera effect, …

    – poor sound quality: race for a thinner case leads to degradation of loudspeakers — but oh yeah! it makes the unsatisfied customers buy all those soundbars, speakers & subwoofers, amps & receivers.

    – glitchy firmware — “we’ll fix that later ’cause it’s more important to get the TV out earlier than our competitors”…

    – poor backlit uniformity, clouding, etc.

    – ugly irritating glossy panels and edges — showing glares, dust and fingerprints.

    No 3D, internet, youtube, skype, built-in mediaplayer, and other bells & whistles can replace a primal function of a TV.

    Manufactures spend their efforts as marketing managers rather than as engineers :(

  6. And where has the “prevoius channel” button on the remote gone?
    I don’t need one more teletext or whatever button.
    Bring back the last channel button on RCs!

  7. My mate got a Samsung C8000 earlier in the year and I must admist that I really liked the 3D on it with what I saw. So much so that I did get the bug.

    He has SKY 3D and a couple of 3D Blu-rays and a PS3 with some 3D compatible games.

    We all sat around in awe when he first got it. The only time that the glasses come out now is for the football on SKY 3D.

    He can’t even be bothered to game in 3D now because of the increased input lag it introduces.

    Personally I think 3D is here to stay but it needs a lot more stuff to warrant a purchase at the moment.

    There will always be people who need to have the latest tech (like my mate) but the way I look at it is, the longer you wait the more time the manufacturers have got to iron out the flaws in the TV’s.

    I’ll be waiting for the 3rd Gen TV’s at least.