TREND TRACKER: Tube TV oblivion

Sales of old cathode ray tube TVs continued their slide into oblivion during the first quarter. According to data from research firm DisplaySearch, sales of tube TVs fell 14% during the first quarter with shipments in North America totaling 1 million units.

All told, tube TVs generated about 12% of total TV shipments during the first quarter, well behind LCD sets with 77% of the market, but slightly ahead of plasma sets, which netted just 9% of the market. Plasma fell to third after capturing the No. 2 spot during the fourth quarter of 2007.