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Paul Gagnon, an analyst with DisplaySearch, calculated that based on the NPD figures, about 20,000 of the flat-panel sets were sold by those major retailers.
That's a tiny number compared with the approximately 7 million TV sets overall that were shipped to retailers around that time frame, according to the Consumer Electronics Assn. trade group.
And a Parks Associates study released Thursday showed that despite the success of several recent 3-D movies, awareness of the home technology is middling, even in the tech-savvy 18-to-34 age group.
"We don't see a large percentage of people going out of their way to go buy a new TV just because of 3-D," said Parks analyst Pietro Macchiarella.
He and other analysts say the slow going was to be expected — especially considering that the only major manufacturers with the new generation of 3-D sets available in the period were Samsung and Panasonic. Parks forecasts that sales will shoot upward as more manufacturers get sets to market. In 2014, the firm estimated, 80% of all TVs sold will be 3-D capable.
But Macchiarella had not expected only 13% of the people surveyed this quarter to describe themselves as "familiar" with 3-D TV.
"I think it's a little bit of a surprise," Macchiarella said.
Despite the hype, only a tiny amount of 3-D content has been available for the home screen. That's changing, slowly — currently, World Cup soccer matches can be viewed in 3-D by DirecTV and Comcast cable subscribers.
Macchiarella said the matches could up the awareness of 3-D. "Maybe in the next study we'll get better data," he said.
From the article, "3-D TV sets are selling, but no instant craze" by Kristena Hansen
