Marketing Blitz Drives Consumers to Take the 3D Plunge

According to Interpret’s new report, “3D State of Union: Are Consumers Ready?” marketing campaigns of TV manufacturers and product demos at retail have spurred consumer interest in 3D technologies - 5% of heads of households stated that they are “definitely interested” in purchasing a 3D TV in the next 12 months, and another 8% are “probably interested.”

“Even though consumer self-reported purchase intention needs to be discounted significantly, the percentage of 3D TV intenders is nothing to be sniffed at,” said Michael Cai, VP of Research at Interpret LLC. “Based on consumer data, we anticipate more than 4 million 3D TV sets to be sold in the United States in the next 12 months.”

The report also reveals that 3D TV intenders are willing to pay 8-10% more for a 3D TV than a 2D set of similar size and intenders for a 3D Blu Ray player are ready to shell out 35% more for the ability to play back 3D movies at home. Furthermore, consumers want more than 3 pairs of 3D glasses for their households but are only willing to pay $23 for a pair.

“The 20-25% premium carried by today’s 3D TVs is higher than what consumers are willing to bear; however, we expect promotions around the 2010 holiday season to push many early adopters over the edge,” said Cai. “We do advise manufacturers and retailers to bundle additional pairs of glasses into their offerings to sweeten the deal.”

Source: Interpret