3D TV falls flat with buyers in UK, US, Canada
April 1, 2011
Most Americans, Brits and Canadians are unlikely to purchase a 3D television any time soon, according to a recent Vision Critical poll.
The online survey of representative national samples shows that a negligible number of respondents in each country currently own 3D TVs. Five per cent of Americans, two per cent of Brits and only one per cent of Canadians have a 3D television at home.
However, despite limited intent to purchase, awareness of 3D TV is strong in all three countries—at least four-in- five respondents in the U.S. (81 per cent), Britain (also 81 per cent) and Canada (84 per cent) have heard of household consumer 3D television.
Based on a short description, 81 per cent of American respondents said they probably or definitely would not purchase a 3D TV in the next six months.
95 per cent of Canadians responded that they would “probably” or “definitely” not purchase a 3D television in the next six months. A vast proportion of those (71 per cent) fall into the “definitely would not buy” category. Respondents in British Columbia are the least likely to purchase a 3D TV (98 per cent will not) while those in Ontario are more open to the technology (5 per cent might). Four-in-five Brits (81 per cent) will not purchase a 3D TV in the next six months.
Across all three countries, the main reason cited for not planning to buy a 3D television is the high price tag. In Britain, two-in-five respondents (42 per cent) think 3D TVs are too expensive, a sentiment shared by 39 per cent of Americans and 32 per cent of Canadians. Also, 31 per cent of Brits, 28 per cent of Canadians and 26 per cent of Americans feel it is inconvenient to wear the required 3D glasses at home.
“There appears to be a significant perceived lack of value with 3D TVs among consumers in all three countries,” said Matt Kleinschmit, Senior Vice President at Vision Critical. “This is not surprising given that many people may have only recently migrated to high definition TVs, and now they are being asked yet again to upgrade to a new technology. At the same time, early adopters of Plasma or LCD HD TVs discovered that there was very little HD content when they first purchased these devices, and then witnessed prices drop dramatically over the course of several years. It seems these same consumers may have learned their lesson and are sitting on the sidelines of the initial 3D TV technology wave. The inherent value proposition of these initial 3D TVs, coupled with the inconvenience of having to wear 3D glasses at home is just too much of a barrier to take the plunge.”