Xbox 360, PS3 Drove 18% of HDTV Purchases in Last Year

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Xbox 360, PS3 Drove 18% of HDTV Purchases in Last Year
Any self respecting hardcore gamer knows that playing PS3 or 360 games in 480p just doesn't cut it. Apparently a large number of HDTV owners bought their new sets specifically for video games.
Posted by James Brightman on Thursday, April 24, 2008


A new study from Frank N. Magid Associates has found that 5.5 million households purchased an HDTV set for the first time during the 2007/2008 holiday and Super Bowl season, and that 25 percent of U.S. households, or 28 million, now have at least one HDTV set, which is up from 20 percent in September 2007. The study, which was conducted shortly after Super Bowl XLII, also discovered that three million homes added a second HDTV during this same time frame, bringing multiple HDTV set homes up to nearly 10 million.

Interestingly, of the new HDTV buyers in the last year,18 percent said they bought one specifically to take advantage of the high definition visuals that Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 can produce.

And it appears that once you go HD, you never go back. Magid said that current HD owners are expected to drive demand for HD sets, with nearly four-in-ten current HDTV set owners planning to purchase another HDTV set in the next 12 months.

"Consumers who become accustomed to the sleek and contemporary appearance of their first HD set are now looking to bring that benefit into other rooms in their home," says Maryann Baldwin, Vice President, Magid Media Futures.

Considering that Sony produces HDTV sets and now has a winning next-gen movie format in Blu-ray, the company is no doubt encouraged by this news. Sony has said on multiple occasions that they expect the PS3 and Blu-ray to drive sales of Bravia HDTVs and vice versa. It would appear that the strategy is starting to work.