Japan Domestic TV Shipments Plunge 73.7%

Only 746,000 flat-screen TVs were shipped in October, 73.7% plunge from a year earlier, the steepest drop on record and the first month that it has fallen below 1 million units since May 2009, said the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.

October was the third straight month of declining TV shipments. The drop is attributed to the fat that the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting was completed in July, ending the spike in replacement demand during the transition period.

The dropoff in shipments was highest for 37-inch and bigger TVs, at 85.5% and smallest for 29-inch and smaller, at 61.9%. Shipments of TVs in the 30 to 36-inch range fell 72.3%.