World Cup, Eco-Program Drive Q2 TV Shipment Growth in Japan, South America; North America Shipments Drop

Despite a 26 percent increase in Q2 global TV shipments year-over-year, to 56.2 million units, the North American market suffered a 3 percent decline, DisplaySearch said. The North American drop followed a weak 1 percent increase in unit sales Q1, the research company said. After triple-digit growth in 2009, the China market cooled to 31 percent growth year-over-year, the report said, because of holiday season sales weaker than forecast.

Growth elsewhere was event-driven, DisplaySearch said. Japan had a sales bump of 56 percent, fueled by the government-sponsored Eco-Points program, which rewarded consumers for trading up to energy-efficient models, it said. Latin America set a sales record for any quarter of 7.3 million in Q2, a 70 percent increase year-over-year, because of World Cup demand, the firm said. The World Cup also sparked a rise in shipments to Europe, but sell-through results were less than expected, it said. A build-up of inventory, combined with a weaker euro, will likely lead to a Q3 correction ahead of holiday season sales, DisplaySearch said.

Sony had the strongest quarter-to-quarter revenue growth of the top five suppliers, 12.8 percent. Sony reclaimed second place in global LCD TV sales, behind Samsung, DisplaySearch said, and passed LG for the first time in more than a year. Samsung continued to lead in flat-panel TV shipments worldwide with a 24.4 percent market share and growth of 20 percent from Q1 and 26 percent year-over-year, the researcher said. LG’s market share held at 14.1 percent Q1 to Q2, with unit growth of 9 percent quarter-to-quarter and 34 percent from a year earlier. Sony’s market share moved up from 10.1 percent in Q1 to 12.8 percent in Q2, the report said, with unit growth of 39 percent quarter-to-quarter and 22 percent from 2009. Panasonic’s market share increased from 7.3 percent to 9 percent Q1 to Q2, and Sharp’s remained basically flat at 6.5 percent and 6.4 percent.

By technology, LCD led Q2 shipments worldwide with 41 million units, 74.4 percent of the market, followed by plasma with 4 million units, 8 percent, DisplaySearch said. The share of LED-backlit LCD TVs grew from less than 8 percent in Q1 to nearly 18 percent in Q2. “Considering the average LED LCD TV carried an ASP that was more than double that of a CCFL-backlit model, the impact on revenue share for LED LCD TVs was even more pronounced,” DisplaySearch said. Most LED-backlit LCD TVs used an edge-lit design, which offers lower cost, slimmer profile and lower energy consumption, it said.