Sharp Sold 6 Million LCD TVs in '06

While plasma manufacturers seem to be struggling, rival LCD maker Sharp reported that it sold 6.03 million LCD TVs last fiscal year, 1.5 times the number it sold the prior year. You may be wondering how Sharp was able to increase the average selling price of its LCD TVs by 7% when flat-panel prices are falling across the board; the company says that its focus on larger-screen TVs helped offset declining prices. In fact, Sharp aims to increase the proportion of LCD TVs it sells that are over 30 inches from 55% of all TVs last year to 80% this year.

Sharp also said that nearly 81% of the TVs it sold in the second half of last year that were over 37 inches were 1080p, a figure it plans to bump up to over 90% this year.