Quarter of TVs sold in US during 2004 will be HDTV

Manufacturer-to-dealer sales of digital television (DTV) products continued to soar during the first half of 2004, reaching 2.8 million units and dollar revenues of more than $2.7 billion, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The CEA said one out of four televisions purchased this year would be an HDTV. DTV sales have now reached a total of 11.7 million units since the technology was introduced in 1998, with most sales occurring during the past two years. The CEA also reported that DTV sales during the first half of 2004 are up 80 percent compared to 1.5 million units sold in the same time period last year.

The CEA defines Digital TV products as integrated sets and monitors displaying at least 480 active scanning lines and, in the case of integrated sets, receiving and decoding ATSC terrestrial digital broadcasts.