Almost a quarter of the world’s population will own a 4K TV set by the end of 2016, with Chinese manufacturers poised to take a large chunk of the LCD market, according to Trendforce.
Larger sized LCD TVs – those sized 50” or above – are becoming more desirable for both first-time buyers and families looking to replace their older TV sets, as well as with those wanting to upgrade to 4K, researchers have found. Feeding this growth, global shipments of 4K TVs are forecast to total around 53 million sets this year.
Researchers found Chinese brands which are targeting the e-commerce market, such as Xiaomi and LeEco (formerly LeTV), are expanding rapidly in the LCD TV market by promoting high cost/performance products that are economically priced and multi-functional.
These products have also spurred competitive pricing of large-size TVs, resulting in the cost of 65” sets becoming more attainable to more consumers in China. In other regional markets LeEco is using its investment partnership with compatriot electronics manufacturer TCL to expand its sales channels, said researchers at WitsView, a division of TrendForce.
“As LCD TVs get larger in size, panel manufacturers in the upstream of the supply chain will capitalise on this trend and expand the size of their panel products to increase the consumption of panel capacity,” said Ricky Lin, research manager for WitsView.
“Furthermore, Internet brands in China are offering large-size LCD TVs with high cost-performance ratios. These products have been well-received by domestic consumers.”
The upgrade in resolution technology is also driving the sales of large-size LCD TVs, with 23.8% of TV households around the world forecast to own a 4K set by the end of the year, up from 13.7% in 2015.
As 4K video content improves and becomes more freely available, North America is likely to join China as another fiercely contested market for competing LCD TV brands, predicts WitsView.
“Based on WitsView’s projection, the share of 32-inch products in the combined shipments of the top 15 LCD TV brands will be at 26% this year, showing a 4.7% point drop from last year,” said a company statement.
“LCD TVs sized 40-45” by contrast will see their share in the combined shipments expand to almost 30%, surpassing the 32” to become the mainstream size segment in the market.”
The market share of LCD TVs sized above 50” from the major 15 LCD TV brands are projected to reach 19.4%. This is, therefore, the battleground among vendors and will result in more consumer-friendly pricing, suggests TrendForce.