The Beijing Olympics will lead to a boom in sales of flat-screen televisions in China, with one in four televisions sold in 2008 either a liquid-crystal display (LCD) or plasma, a Japanese study said on Monday.
Only 10% of the 42-million colour televisions sold in China last year was an LCD or plasma, said a study by the economic research firm Fuji Keizai.
“In light of the Beijing Olympics, competition will increase for large flat-screen and high-definition models … and the flat-screen TV market will see strong growth,” it said.
“Additionally, a fall in prices will boost consumption,” it said.
The study said that China will also increasingly become a production base for flat-screen televisions.
By contrast, China’s huge role in producing DVD players and parts will decrease because next-generation models will require more expensive licensing.
Japanese rivals Sony and Toshiba are promoting respectively the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats, hoping they will become the standards for next-generation DVDs. — AFP