Japanese not keen to go four-eyed for 3D TV: survey

TOKYO | Fri Jul 2, 2010 11:14am EDT

(Reuters) – Television manufacturers might be waging a 3D battle but Japanese consumers are not entering the affray with almost 70 percent saying they have no plans to buy a 3D TV for their home.

Respondents said they were turned off by the special viewing glasses and also blamed steep price tags and scarcity of available content for their lack of interest, the survey by the price comparison website operator Kakaku.com showed.

Electronics makers like Panasonic Corp and Sony Corp have rushed to bring 3D TVs to the market this year, hoping the boom in cinemas will extend to living rooms after blockbusters like “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland” ignited massive interest in 3D viewing.

But 67.4 percent of respondents said they were not interested in buying a 3D TV while only 31.2 percent were considering or wanted to purchase one, the survey said.

“Television makers’ expectations for 3D are high but looking at the degree of interest among consumers, there is a big gap with the enthusiasm of manufacturers,” Tsuyoshi Kamada, head of Kakaku.com’s media-creative section, wrote in a report on the survey.

Of those who have no plans to buy a 3D TV, nearly 70 percent cited the hassle of wearing special glasses, 57 percent said prices were too high and close to 40 percent said there was not enough 3D content.

Sony has launched 3D games for its PlayStation 3 and Japanese cable operator J:Com offers a small selection of 3D programs through its video on demand service, but available content remains limited.

Kakaku.com conducted the online survey June 10-16, receiving responses from 8,957 people.