Economic Woes Hit HDTV Sales

Reeling from a stock-market crash and a looming recession, consumers may finally be putting the brakes on the purchase of pricey luxury items like high-definition televisions. Spending in the electronics category fell by 14% year-over-year in September, following modest declines of 3% and 6% in the previous months. A slowdown of HDTV sales would hurt DirecTV's ability to add customers as fast as it could have. A slowdown in HD sales may have a silver lining for incumbent cable operators like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cablevision Systems, however. HD picture quality and programming choices have been key marketing themes that companies like Verizon Communications Inc. and DirecTV have used to lure customers away from cable companies.