Competition in Premium TV Market
LG Electronics ranked first in the category of premium TVs costing US$2,500 or higher in North America, the world's largest TV market for two years running.
According to market researcher IHS Markit on March 22, LG Electronics ranked first in the premium TV market in North America with a market share of 36.4% in 2017 following a market share of 40.1% in 2016. Its market share was only 13.8% in 2015, but the company is rapidly expanding its share in the North American premium TV market with organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs.
LG Electronics was followed by Sony which nabbed second place with a share of 36.2% in the premium TV market. In 2016, Sony chalked up a market share of 34.6%. In particular, Sony launched 55- to 77-inch OLED TVs after pricing them at US$2,500 or higher.
The two TV makers with organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs front and center accounted for a combined market share of 72%. Samsung Electronics came in third, with 25.5%, up 6.1% from 19.4% in 2016. In North America, LG Electronics, Sony and Samsung Electronics are dominating the TV market with ultra-high-definition and large-size premium TV products, while Chinese companies are focusing on low-priced products.
LG Electronics is betting on specialized products such as launching 'LG OLED TV AI ThinQ' loaded with an artificial intelligence image quality algorithm, to maintain its first place in North America premium TV market. Sony, which has been on the offensive with OLED TVs since last year, is actively promoting marketing in cooperation with Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics chain store in the United States.
Samsung Electronics has begun to step up its offensive to absorb premium TV demand by offering a 45% discount of QLED TVs and diversifying their sizes and product groups. In general, discounts of premium TV products are not large so it is said that the 45% discount is unusual. Samsung Electronics will release a TV loaded with its own voice recognition platform 'Bixby' in North America this year. The company had led the premium TV market in North America by 2015, but the market situation has changed with the introduction of OLED TVs last year.