DisplaySearch and the NPD Group Host Annual Black Friday Results and 2009 Outlook Webinar on December 9

Sort Date: 10142008

AUSTIN, TEXAS, October 14, 2008—DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting, announced the date for its 2nd Annual Black Friday Results and 2009 Outlook Webinar, to be held on Tuesday, December 9 from 1:00-3:00 pm ET. Co-presented with The NPD Group, the webinar will feature presentations from DisplaySearch and The NPD Group’s expert analysts that break down the Thanksgiving weekend sales results and provide insight into how these results will impact the remainder of the holiday selling season and beyond. Specifically, the webinar will analyze sales results in the for the TV market, as well as for DVD players, notebook computers and PC monitors.

Based on these early holiday sell-through results, and coupled with Q3’08 sell-in results, DisplaySearch and The NPD Group will share their outlook for the remainder of Q4'08, and look at the impact on 2009 for these key consumer electronic devices, as well as implications for the supply chain. Retailers, end product manufacturers, supply chain members and financial analysts who attend the webinar will gain access to the critical information they need to plan for the remainder of the holiday season and early 2009.

“2008 began as a year of uncertainty, but with faint optimism, especially for the TV market. So many factors are at play now, such as the slowing influence of an economic downturn, the looming end to analog broadcasting and fierce competition among both brands and retailers.” noted Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch’s Director of North America TV Research. “Furthermore, prices look to move downward more aggressively this holiday season as looser flat panel supply has helped drive cost reductions in the second half of this year. The complex interaction of all these forces will likely reach a crescendo during Q4 and Black Friday in particular.”

During the webinar, Gagnon will review how Black Friday 2008 TV sales went and the implications for the rest of the holiday season and beyond. In addition, the following analysts will share their market insights during the webinar:

Black Friday Overview
Stephen Baker, NPD’s Vice President, Industry Analysis
Baker will share NPD’s weekly POS data to identify and analyze the key trends, hot categories and outstanding performers during Black Friday 2008.

Black Friday Retailer Promotion Summary
Sam Bhavnani, NPD’s Director, Consumer Technology
Utilizing NPD's causal data, Bhavnani will examine the promotional activity from this year and compare it with years past to help shed some light on the different strategies retailers and manufacturers are employing to drive store traffic.

DVD Results and Q4 Outlook
Paul Erickson, Director of DVD and HD Market Research, DisplaySearch
Erickson will examine the Black Friday strategies employed for both the DVD and Blu-ray Disc player segments, and provide insight into how these strategies fared during Black Friday. Particular focus will be on the progress made by Blu-ray Disc hardware against standard and up-converting DVD players compared to the previous year.

PC Results and Q4 Outlook,
John Jacobs, Director, Notebook Market Research, DisplaySearch
Jacobs will review Q3’08 WW and North America notebook PC results by brand, followed by a discussion of the market dynamics driving growth in the Notebook PC market, including the emerging Mini-Note (aka netbook) market, notebook PC ASP trends, and technology trends (including changes to display sizes, resolution and aspect ratio). He will also briefly discuss changes to the monitor market, including an emerging focus on attaching monitors to notebook PC sales as well as the trend towards different wide-aspect ratio displays (16:9 instead of 16:10) and the outlook for this trend’s impact on the ever-elusive “convergence” of PCs and TVs.

To register for DisplaySearch’s Black Friday Results and 2009 Outlook Webinar, visit http://www.displaysearch.com/blackfriday. Register by November 19 and save $100!

Media interested in attending should contact Stacey Voorhees at stacey@savvypublicrelations.net or call 925-336-9592.

About DisplaySearch
DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, has a core team of 58 employees located in Europe, North America and Asia who produce a valued suite of FPD-related market forecasts, technology assessments, surveys, studies and analyses. Visit the DisplaySearch blog to read about how our top analysts are interpreting up-to-the-minute issues that impact the display industry, and join us in this discussion about technology and the flat panel industry. The company also organizes influential events worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DisplaySearch has regional operations in Chicago, Houston, Kyoto, London, San Diego, San Jose, Seoul, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tokyo, and the company is on the web at http://www.displaysearch.com/

About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us or visit http://www.npd.com/.