Korea Still Leads in Premium TV Segment
China took the crown in the global LCD TV market last year, according to a report released by global market researcher IHS Markit on Feb. 10.
Worldwide LCD TV shipments totaled 152.16 million units in the first three quarters of last year, with Chinese companies accounting for 31.9 percent (48.56 million units). This marked the first time that China surpassed Korea in LCD TV shipments.
China was followed by Korea with 46.58 million units (30.6 percent), Japan with 22.19 million units (14.6 percent), Europe with 4,21 million units (2.8 percent), the United States with 3.58 million units (2.4 percent) and Taiwan with 2.9 million units (1.9 percent). Back in 2017, Korea's market share stood at 32.4 percent, eclipsing that of China (27.2 percent).
In particular, China's market share rose to 34.7 percent in the third quarter of last year, widening the gap with Korea.
In the global TFT-LCD panel market, BOE's market share reached 23 percent, outclassing LG Display with 20 percent. Taiwan's Innolux and AUO placed third and fourth with a market share of 17 percent and 15 percent, respectively, defeating Samsung Display with 8 percent.
"China has outrun Korea in the LCD TV panel market since 2017, and overtook Korea in the LCD TV market last year," IHS Markit said in the report. "The rapid growth of China in the display industry is also affecting the TV market," IHS Markit added. “Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are still the top two players in the global TV market, but it is only a matter of time that China will take the initiative in the TV market."
However, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are expected to take the lead in the large and ultra-high-definition premium TV market based on their QLED and OLED technology, respectively, TV market watchers say.
In the third quarter of 2018, Samsung Electronics accounted for 48.2 percent of the market for TVs costing more than US$2,500, and 54.1 percent of the market for super-large TVs 75-inch or larger. This helped the company maintain its No. 1 position in the global TV market for 49 consecutive quarters until the third quarter of last year. In addition, Samsung Electronics is aiming to maintain its No. 1 position in the global TV market by putting 8K ultra-high-definition QLED TVs front and center.
OLED TV shipments by LG Electronics rose to 1.18 million units in 2017 from 666,400 in 2016 and posted 1.05 million units by the third quarter of last year. The company’s OLED TV sales are believed to have set a new record last year. Worldwide OLED TV shipments increased from 1.6 million units in 2017 to 2.54 million units in 2018, and are expected to hit 3.4 million units this year.