US consumers want even lower HDTV prices

According to a US study by eMarketer, 62% of US consumers say they would buy a high-definition TV if there were ‘significant price drops’.

That might not seem so surprising but it compares with only 21% of US consumers that would buy a new HDTV for ‘improved picture and audio quality’ – indicating that price and not performance is the driving force.

There are high-definition TVs in more than 30 million US homes and sales have increased dramatically with falling prices during the last year but it seems Americans want even lower prices before buying.

The study, Consumer Electronics Online: Converged or Confused?, also suggests that US consumers are still increasingly baffled by new technology despite spending an average of $1,200 a year on consumer electronics. The study found that Americans will only spend 20 minutes trying to set up a new device before giving up and returning it to the store – apparently, more than half the consumer electronics products returned are in fine working order.

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