Samsung Had 36% Share of World's 4K TV Revenue Q3, DisplaySearch Says

Global Q3 TV shipments improved 4 percent, compared with Q3 a year earlier, and LCD TV shipments alone rose nearly 9 percent, DisplaySearch said in a report Tuesday. Annual TV shipment growth averaged less than 1 percent on a unit and revenue basis in the first half of 2014, with LCD TV growth barely compensating for declining shipments of plasma and CRT TVs, it said. Although 4K TVs have been available for several years now, shipments in 2014 have significantly accelerated, "due to broader competition and more accessible price points activating new consumer groups," it said. Year-over-year 4K TV shipments jumped more than 500 percent in Q3 to top 3 million units, bringing total shipments to 6.4 million units in 2014, it said. China is the leading 4K TV consumer market, and local Chinese brands "are now fiercely competing with Samsung, which is aggressively pushing for growth in China and leads all 4K brands in the nation, after debuting a greatly expanded lineup in Q2," it said. In fact, with 36 percent share of the 4K TV shipments, Samsung led the market on a revenue basis globally in Q3, it said: "The company significantly outpaces all other brands. Chinese brands have a stronger share, thanks to greater unit volume within China, and a low average price compared to global brands competing in markets outside of China. However, with the arrival of greater competition in North America and other markets, as well as rising 4K TV exports from Chinese brands, competitive price compression will be difficult to avoid for most brands." Samsung owned the world’s top 4K TV revenue share in Q3 with 36 percent, followed by LG (15 percent), Hisense (10 percent) and Sony (9 percent), DisplaySearch said.