Bad In-store experiences are hurting 3D TV sales
It was an otherwise innocuous press release: Display Search noted “3D TV Not Growing as Fast as TV Makers Expected in 2010,” the company slightly cutting shipments projections from 3.4 million units in the U.S. this year to 3.2 million units. Not a shock; initial forecasts of a new technology often are overly optimistic, backers hoping to project an image of success to spur consumer interest and demand. Once the realities of the marketplace and the current recessed economy took their toll, a quiet (shhhh!) adjustment of said numbers out of the public eye shouldn’t appear too damning.
Except, as is often the case, there’s more to these lower-than-expected uptake numbers than meets the eye. If 3D HDTV fails to catch on, the manufacturers - specifically the retail merchandising managers and trainers, along with the retailers themselves - will have a lot to answer for, at least if my recent 3D mystery shopper trip last week is typical.
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