Screen size up, prices down

Retailers looking to make a strong pricing statement this holiday season will have an easy time of it where consumer electronics are concerned. It’s been hard not to notice the free fall in prices of flat-panel televisions, and those products are likely to be among the most heavily promoted. The average price of 40- and 42-inch flat-panels for the first nine months of 2009 was $838 compared to $1,150 the same time last year, according to NPD. The average price of 50-inch and 52-inch TVs dropped from $1,941 during the first nine months of 2008 to $1,409 during the same time this year.

“Consumers are taking advantage of greater affordability and buying more TVs with smaller screen sizes. However, many still aspire to larger TVs with higher resolution,” said Ross Rubin, NPD’s director of industry analysis.

Roughly 25% of consumers plan to make a television purchase in the next six months, according to the market research company’s 2009 TV Inventory Study, which involved 3,000 consumers. The 40-inch screen size is the most anticipated purchase, but big models will be in demand too.