Sony: 2012 will be the year of 3D TV

Despite the recent advances in 3D technology, with films such as Avatar and Channel 4’s 3D week promising a new immersive world, Sony predicts that the format will not truly take-off until 2012.

Sony is one of the manufacturers showcasing its 3D-ready TVs and DVD players at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, beginning on 7 January.

However, despite the company going full-speed ahead with its products, Mike Fasulo, chief marketing officer for Sony Electronics, told BusinessWeek that it does not expect 3D to go mainstream this year.

“We don’t expect to see an explosion of 3D in the home until the 2012 time frame,” he said.

Sony has predicted that 3D TVs will make up 50% of its total TV shipments in the financial year ending March 2013.

At the start of December, a Newsline column from Ipsos MediaCT asked whether the latest advances in 3D technology would lead to a new era in television.

However, it found that just 18% of consumers are aware that new 3D TV broadcasts will be available in the near future.