TV Market To Swing to 2 Percent Growth Worldwide in 2016, Futuresource Says

Worldwide shipments of 4K Ultra HD TVs jumped 160 percent in 2015 to 32 million units, although overall TV shipments last year declined 2 percent for the year, a Futuresource report said Monday. Declines were due to flat-panel TV saturation in most markets and exchange rate and economic difficulties in Russia and Brazil, the report said. The biggest decline was in Europe, where TV shipments fell by more than 15 percent in 2015, it said. Futuresource predicts worldwide shipments will increase 2 percent this year on gains in emerging markets including Africa, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region where TV ownership is relatively low. Global 4K TV shipments are expected to reach 140 million units by 2020, when 4K UHD TV shipments will be 52 percent of the market, vs. 14 percent in 2015, the report said. OLED and 4K Ultra HD will help “restore value” in the global TV market on an expected rise in average selling prices, Futuresource said. OLED is forecast to be 7 percent of shipments by 2020, compared with just 0.2 percent last year. Curved screens remain a focus for Samsung but other manufacturers have largely reduced their lineups of curved models, Futuresource said. High dynamic range will be a feature in all 4K UHD TVs shipped in North America and Europe by 2020, it said.