Bigger TVs
As TV and home appliance makers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics intensify competition to offer better picture quality, TV screens are getting bigger and bigger. Over the past seven years, TV screen size has increased an average of 10 inches. This year, 65-inch TVs are the mainstream and sales of 75-inch and larger TVs are expected to increase sharply.
According to the TV industry on April 19, Samsung Electronics surveyed screen sizes of TVs sold in Korea on its own and found that the average TV screen size expanded from 44.5 inches in 2010 to 54.0 inches last year. This means that the average TV screen size increased by more than one inch per year. Only seven years ago, 55-inch TVs were considered "extra large" but now they are average-sized TVs.
A 55-inch TV was priced at five to six million won in 2010. But these days ultra-HD TVs of a similar size are selling at the two million won level, so such big TVs are not luxury items any longer.
In fact, in the domestic TV market, the share of the 65-inch and above TV market is expected to rise from 18% in 2016 to 31% last year, with the demand for 55-inch TVs moving rapidly to products larger than 65 inches. In particular, in the case of Samsung Electronics, domestic sales of super-sized TVs of over 75 inches in January this year increased by 1.5 times compared with the delivery and doubled from the same month of last year.
According to IHS Markit, a global market research company, the number of UHD TVs (3840x2160 pixels) sold in the global TV market surpassed 78.9 million units last year, surpassing FHD (1920x1080) TVs (66.2 million units) for the first time. This year, UHD TV sales (about 170 million units) are expected to exceed 100 million units and rose to the level double sales of FHD TVs (about 54.8 million units).
"Last year, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics accounted for more than half of the market for TVs 75 inches or bigger in the world last year, by enjoying markets shares of 50% and 10% respectively," a TV industry official said. “But for the time being, TVs made in Korea will display its power even though low-priced Chinese TVs and the revival of Japan’s Sony are threatening factors."