The Avatar Effect - The Future of 3DTV

Anticipating that Avatar would be a groundbreaking 3D movie, Retrevo.com captured a snapshot of consumer interest in 3DTV before, and then after Avatar was released.

More Consumers Are Ready to Buy 3DTVs
The study saw a 20% increase in the size of the audience who said they are ready to buy a new TV to get the 3D experience. That's good news for the TV industry that is already enjoying healthy sales of HDTV sets.

Glasses Could be an Issue
The study also found that an overwhelming number of respondents (90%) said $25 dollars would be all they'd want to pay for a pair of 3D glasses with 65% saying $10 was their spending limit. Won't consumers be surprised when they discover that an extra pair of active shutter glasses is going to cost around $30 or more? Glasses can also be uncomfortable to wear and even though a small percentage of respondents complained the glasses at the movie house felt uncomfortable, that number almost doubled after Avatar was released. We suspect an entire industry will grow up around 3D glasses which should address these concerns.

Conclusion
Avatar and CES 2010 have done a lot to increase awareness and demand for 3DTV. With more 3D movies, sporting events, and games appearing this year, and consumers willing to buy a new TV to get 3D in their homes, it looks like it could be good times ahead for the TV industry. Thanks, James Cameron!

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About Retrevo's Pulse Report
The Retrevo Pulse provides data about what consumers are buying, and what they are going to buy. Retrevo.com, the consumer electronics shopping site, observes and analyzes user behavior of more than 5 Million users to discover interesting activities and trends. Some of Retrevo's analysis is made available at no cost, through the CE Demand Index and the CE Price Index. Our Indexes include historical price trends and demand forecasts based on actual observed behavior.

Data for this report came from a survey of more than 1250 randomly selected Retrevo users. A first random sample of users were surveyed between Dec 8-18, 2009 before Avatar was released. A second random sample of users were surveyed between January 5-12, 2010. The sample was distributed across gender, age, income and location in the United States. Most questions had a confidence interval of 4% at a 95% confidence level.