Smart Segment Domination
Korean smart TV manufacturers are maintaining their upper hand in the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market.
Market research firm DisplaySearch said on April 13 that Samsung Electronics took up 28.2 percent of the global smart TV market last year and was followed by LG Electronics (15.2 percent), Sony (7.6 percent), Hisense (6.7 percent), and Skyworth (6.7 percent).
The combined market share of the two Korean manufacturers reaches no less than 43.4 percent. Their dominance in the smart TV market is very meaningful with regard to the platform to lead the growth of the IoT market, including smart homes, as well as their increased presence in the high-end TV market. According to Strategy Analytics, the smart home market is predicted to reach US$48 billion this year and US$111.5 billion by 2019 through an average annual growth of 19 percent.
TV takes a very important role in the smart home market. According to the Korea Association of Smart Home, the domestic smart home market grew 24.3 percent to 8.5677 trillion won (US$7.8133 billion) between 2013 and last year, and smart TVs and home entertainment accounted for 57.7 percent of the market in 2014. In addition, it is predicted that the smart TV sales volume will exceed the non-smart TV sales volume in Korea this year.