Fresh off the Academy Awards, Avatar may not have taken home the biggest prize, but it certainly reiterated the notion that 3D has arrived in a big way.  As of this week, Avatar has grossed over $2.5B world wide and has shattered box office records in the process.  Last weekend, Alice in Wonderland posted an impressive opening weekend of more than $115M, and the line-up of 3D movies for releases this year include more likely box office powerhouses such as: Clash of the Titans, How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After and Toy Story 3.  Perhaps more telling of the future of 3D in cinema, in a recent interview Avatar director James Cameron indicated that he only plans to in 3D moving forward.
 

At CES in January of this year, all the talk was about 3D as well -- bringing the 3D experience into our homes.  Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Toshiba all unveiled 3D HDTVs.  Sony CEO Howard Stringer described it as "the next great consumer experience."  Sony also announced a joint venture with Discovery Communications and IMAX to create a new 24-hour 3D channel and ESPN will use Sony pro HD cameras to capture sporting events for a new 3D sports channel launching later this year.

 A recent article in PC World provided the following forecasts for 2010 3D televisions:  Panasonic expects to ship 1 million units.  Samsung plans to ship 2 units -- roughly 5 percent of its total TV shipments.  Sony is projecting that 2.5 million, or 10 percent, of its HDTVs sold this year will be 3D sets. 

Some believe these 2010 forecasts to be a bit generous.  Market researcher iSuppli recently forecast just 4.2 million shipments worldwide this year, but also expects shipments to explode over the next five years to 78 million units shipped in 2015.

According to market research company NPD Group, consumers are expressing interest in 3D TV, but may not be running out immediately to purchase a new set.  NPD found that cost, content availability, and convenience of watching in 3D ranked high among concerns about adopting the technology.  Cost and convenience also came into play in terms of the glasses that major manufacturers will require for viewing 3D content.

As with all new technologies, early adopters will lead the way, overlooking cost and other considerations, to pioneer this next big thing in home entertainment. 

So will 2010 be the big year for 3D? 

Certainly time will tell, but my bet is that with the success of several big theatrical releases in 3D this year, there will be a growing quest by consumers to have a similar experience at home.

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