The digital switchover this October saw a number of Irish households investing in new televisions and set-top boxes to ensure they would retain their TV signals, providing a welcome boost to the market.
GfK Retail and Technology Ireland says 1 in 25 Irish households invested in a set-top box during October. The digital set-top box market is a fledgling market, having only emerged in early 2011, but the digital switchover saw a year-on-year increase of 1,800pc.
The most popular devices were basic set-top boxes costing less than €100, while higher-priced devices with additional hard drive storage and internet connectivity fell to less than 1pc and 7pc of market volume in September respectively.
Smaller-screen televisions also saw a boost in sales, likely due to households with a secondary analogue TV set that upgraded to a digital TV, as sales of 19- to 25-inch TVs accounted for 43pc of the market volume.
Overall, sales of television sets were up 80pc year-on-year and sales peaked in weeks 42 and 43 (15-28 October) leading up to and beyond the switchover on 24 October.
“It is likely that once the influx of basic products has finished with switchover, shares of these features will increase as price erosion continues to take effect, and consumer familiarity with these more advanced products improves,” said Colm Mallon, GfK territory manager Ireland.
