Samsung’s current UHD TV promotion for its HU9000 series...

Samsung’s current UHD TV promotion for its HU9000 series TVs -- a free 4K video pack with five movies and three documentaries -- is an incentive for consumers “to purchase our most premium series of TVs during certain periods,” Dave Das, senior vice president-home entertainment and marketing, told Consumer Electronics Daily. The deal applies to Samsung’s curved UN55HU9000, UN65HU9000 and UN78HU9000 TVs bought between April 27 and June 30, 2014, with the 78-inch model due to ship in June. The deal doesn’t apply to the less expensive line of flat UHD TVs, which cost $1,000 less in the 65-inch screen size, Das said. On whether the promotion will be offered to buyers of the flat series of 4K TVs, Das said he couldn’t comment, but customers who buy Samsung flat 4K TVs can buy the video pack for $299, he said. Das confirmed that customers who bought the UN55HU9000 and UN65HU9000 TVs prior to April 27 are not eligible for the promotion. He wouldn’t say how many video packs Samsung expects to give away. Dealers have reported some customer confusion over the introduction of curved 1080p TVs last summer in OLED models from LG and Samsung at roughly the same time that 4K technology emerged. Das said Samsung’s customer feedback shows consumers haven’t been confused over the shape or resolution of newer model TVs and cited “a phenomenal uptake” of curved TVs in the U.S., Korea and Germany. On whether the company could extend the current video pack promotion or the $500 price cut on the HU9000 series, Das said he couldn’t comment. He cited NPD figures indicating Samsung holds 47 percent U.S. market share in UHD revenue for 2014. NPD told us the leading Ultra HD TV makers are, in order, Samsung, Sony and Seiki, saying it can’t publish company sales numbers. According to NPD data, fewer than 100,000 4K TVs were sold in the U.S. from April 2013 to March 2014. Meanwhile, according to NPD DisplaySearch, curved TV display shipments are forecast to reach nearly 800,000 units globally in 2014, and are expected to exceed 6 million units by the end of 2017. As a design differentiator, curved TV shipments are expected to peak in LCD models in 2016, while OLED models will boost curved TV shipments in 2017, DisplaySearch said.