HDTVs now owned by a third of U.S. households

Recession? What recession?! U.S. consumers, defying economic odds, continue to gobble up high-definition televisions, with Nielsen reporting that almost exactly one-third of U.S. households now own high-def sets.

In February of 2008, only 19.3 percent of U.S. households owned HDTV sets. As of November that figure was 29.2 percent and by February 2009 it had hit 33.3 percent, a blistering 73 percent increase in penetration in just a year's time.

Dramatically falling prices and the impending Digital TV switchover (which, from the standpoint of 2008, was supposed to already be done with by now) are cited as the main reasons for the growth of HDTV sales. Apparently, many consumers cling to the belief that the DTV transition requires them to own an HDTV in order to receive programming. (It doesn't.)

HDTV growth is also helping to fuel sales of Blu-ray players and discs: While the overall sales level is still comparatively small, Blu-ray sales doubled in the last year, while standard DVD sales fell 15 percent in the same period.

Nielsen's report also offers some curious facts about where HDTVs are being used: 63 percent of high-def sets are installed in living or family rooms, whereas for all televisions only 40 percent show up in living/family areas, indicating that HDTVs are still a bit of a novelty (much like color TV was back in the day), making them relatively show at making the move to bedrooms and other areas of the house. Still, that ratio is decreasing fairly rapidly: A year ago, 74 percent of HDTVs were in use in a family or living room.

It may take some time for HD to fully take over, though. The report suggests that SD sets aren't being gotten rid of when a new HD set comes into the home, more often than not they're simply being redeployed to other parts of the house.

Also of interest: The utilization of HD programming hasn't quite kept up with the growth of HD hardware, though it's close: 28.8 percent of households receive HD content on their HDTV. The other 4.5 percent are clinging to their VHS tapes for dear life, I guess.