HDTV SETS LIKELY TO BE HOT HOLIDAY ITEM

Many consumers who have put off buying a big-screen HDTV set in recent years, hoping for an uptick in the economy, have apparently felt that they have waited long enough. According to a study by Marion, Iowa-based Frank N. Magid Associates, 40 percent of consumers say they plan to shop for a new TV set in the next year, with 62 percent of them citing Internet connectivity as an important factor in their decision. Clearly consumers are fed up with the plethora of unsightly settop boxes that have piled up next to their TV sets, requiring complicated installation and switching. In a statement, Maryann Baldwin, vice president of Magid Media Futures, said, “Consumers have been streaming TV shows and movies to the TV screen enabled by a very diverse set of devices, including game consoles, computers, streaming specific devices like Apple TV and Blu-ray players, so an Internet-connected Smart TV is the desirable next step.” Somewhat surprisingly, interest in purchasing TV sets capable of screening 3D movies and TV shows is on the wane, according to the Magid survey, dropping 18 percent in the past year. Only 3 percent of sets currently in use are capable of displaying 3D images.