The question isn't new, but we'll ask it anyway: Is 3D a fad or a fixture? For the one-fourth of you who can't view the third dimension in television, movies, and games without getting a headache, you're probably hoping that manufacturers' (and directors') big interest in 3D technology goes the way of the Virtual Boy.
Unfortunately (for you), the most recent statistics from NPD indicate that 6.6 million 3D LCD televisions shipped in the third quarter of this year–a 27 percent increase from shipments in the second quarter, and just the beginning of a 30 percent increase in shipments that NPD analysts are expecting to see in fourth-quarter 3D TV sales.
In total, 3D sets are expected to have a market share of around 15 percent by the end of the year. But just how much more can sales chug forward, given consumer reluctance toward the essentials of the technology? According to a November survey by Retrevo, 55 percent of those who said they were going to buy an HDTV in 2012 also said that they will not buy a 3D TV–40 percent of this group claimed there's not enough 3D media to warrant the purchase, whereas 30 percent hated the requisite 3D glasses.
That said, a new infographic by Sortable (below) indicates that a total of 10 new 3D television stations launched in 2011, and this number is expected to more than double in 2012 to 25 new stations in total. And even if consumers might not be super-keen on 3D media in their homes, they seem to enjoy their 3D at the box office. According to the latest figures from Box Office Mojo, six of the year's top 10 movies (as measured by domestic gross) had 3D variants. In total, Sortable noted that 160 3D movies were created between 2008 and 2011 (measured at the time of its infographic's creation).
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