Pushes out LG Electronics to Rank 2nd
TCL, a Chinese home appliance company, pushed out LG Electronics and ranked second in the global TV sales standings last year. This marked the first time TCL has placed second. While the size of the global TV market shrank by 13.2 percent compared to the previous year, competition in the world TV market is expected to intensify as Chinese TV makers are strengthening their pursuit of Korean TV producers.
Global TV market share leaders came in the order of Samsung Electronics (19.6 percent), TCL (11.7 percent), and LG Electronics (11.69 percent), market research firm Omdia said on Feb. 21. The difference in sales between the second and third rankers was less than 30,000 units. HiSense (10.5 percent) and Xiaomi (6.2 percent) ranked fourth and fifth, so three of the top five TV makers are Chinese. The combined market share of TCL, HiSense, and Xiaomi reached 28.4 percent, surpassing Samsung Electronics, the number one player. The Chinese TV making trio accounted for more than a quarter of the total market. Japan’s Sony came in seventh.
TCL’s win over LG Electronics began in the third quarter of 2022. TCL’s market share in the third quarter arrived at 12.6 percent, surpassing LG Electronics (11.5 percent) for the first time. In the fourth quarter, TCL (11.8 percent) ranked second, Hisense (11.6 percent) third, and LG Electronics (11.0 percent) fourth. LG Electronics was relegated to fourth place.
The rapid growth of Chinese TV brands including TCL is closely related to a downturn in global TV market. Global TV shipments in 2022 were 203.26 million units, down 4.8 percent from 213.54 million units in the previous year. “Last year, TV shipments dropped due to shrinking demand,” an industry insider said. “Sales in major markets such as North America sank while TV sales grew mainly in emerging markets such as China, South America, and Africa. “The characteristics of emerging markets where low- and mid-priced TVs sell well drove the growth of low-priced Chinese TVs in the emerging markets.”
While overall demand fell, Chinese TV makers which have steadily increased sales in China and elsewhere also scale up their overall market share. Based on shipments, the Chinese TV market was dominated by Chinese TV makers. Hisense took a 21 percent share, Xiaomi 20.3 percent, and TCL 15.7 percent. Samsung and LG Electronics chalked up only 1.1 percent and 0.3 percent.
Some analysts say that a difference between Chinese companies and Korean companies’ strategies to decrease TV inventory has affected their market shares. “Omdia tallied sales based on manufacturers’ TV supply to stores, not TV sales to end users,” another industry insider said. “In 2022, Korean TV makers adjusted amounts of TVs which they sent to stores to normalize their TV inventory. But Chinese companies, with an overwhelming market share in China, pushed out their TVs to retailers, which may have affected their market share.”
However, in terms of sales revenue, Korean TVs remained strong in the world TV market. The combined market share of Samsung Electronics (29.7 percent) and LG Electronics (16.7 percent) exceeded 46 percent. Third place was taken by TCL (9.4 percent). This is because, unlike Korean TV makers taking the lead in the premium product segment of the world TV market, Chinese TV makers sold mid- and low-priced TVs as their main products.