Consumers in emerging markets - such as Russia, Turkey, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico - are going to drive the next round of TV demand, with more than 40% planning to purchase a TV in the next 12 months, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

Declining prices, increased brand promotions and an ongoing replacement cycle are the main reasons for increasing demand in these countries while drivers for planned purchases differed for emerging markets versus mature markets, such as the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the UK.

"The desire to have a flat panel TV, good picture quality, and more affordable prices are cited as the top three reasons for planned purchases in mature markets," noted the firm's research director Riddhi Patel. "For emerging markets, the primary reasons driving planned purchases are picture quality, sound quality and a strong warranty/service plan. These results show the influence of financial status and living standards in consumer mindset when it comes to TV purchases."

The technology mix of existing TVs in households is different between emerging and mature markets, which may be due to lower spending power in emerging markets. The emerging market technology mix is dominated by CRTs at 53%, but LCD TVs dominate in mature markets where 54% of TVs are LCD. Plasma has a small presence of 7% in mature markets and 6% in emerging ones, and rear projection makes up for a negligible portion of the existing installed-TV base, stated the research firm.

The firm also found that households in mature markets own an average of 2.4 TVs per household, and in emerging markets the average is 1.8. Like mature markets, consumers in emerging markets are increasingly replacing their existing legacy sets with flat panels (mainly LCD TVs) because of increased availability and consumer desire for better quality, larger screen, high-definition TV sets.

DisplaySearch also found that more households in emerging markets use devices other than a TV, including mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones, and MP3 players.