Skyworth Revving Distribution Talks as It Sets Sights on Premium US TV Market

Chinese TV maker Skyworth is looking to gain a foothold in the North American TV market as a “strong tier 2 brand” in early 2021 with branded OLED and QLED TVs, Senior Vice President-Sales and Marketing John Homlish told Consumer Electronics Daily Friday. The Shenzhen-based company, fifth largest TV maker in the world, has been selling Skyworth LCD TVs in the U.S. on Amazon, via select NATM retailers and on TV shopping networks this year in a run-up to its launch of U.S.-targeted higher end product next year. The company is an OEM supplier to two of the largest TV brands in the U.S. market, Homlish said, declining to name the brands due to nondisclosure agreements.

The 2021 “hard launch” will be Skyworth’s global effort to “break out and establish our brands in overseas markets,” Homlish said, saying Skyworth is a premium brand in China that has been building OLED products since 2014. Through a strategic partnership with LG, Skyworth is taking raw OLED panels “for the first time and putting it in our own module.” The company has close to 60% OLED TV share in China and is No. 2 in the world behind LG, he said, noting it sells more OLED TVs globally than Sony.

Homlish, whose tri-decade CE industry resume lists Sony, Samsung and Haier, called Skyworth a “young, evolving brand” in the U.S. “We’re developing a premium line of products” in OLED and QLED, with an entry series of LCD product, he said. Higher end models are based around Google’s Android TV 10 smart TV platform, which allows consumers to access Google Assistant voice control directly from the TV. The TVs will work with Alexa via an Echo speaker. Skyworth is also working with Dolby on Dolby Vision and Atmos technologies. Remaining models will have voice remotes, he said.

The company plans to have 16 products, including LCD TVs under $500 that will roll out January-March. QLED and over-$2,000 OLED TVs are due in April-June, Homlish said. “We’re competing with everyone,” said the executive, noting Samsung, LG and Sony also have good-better-best lineups. There will be a pricing delta between Skyworth and pricier TVs from LG, the OLED TV market leader, but “we’ll have features built into our products that LG does not have,” he said: “I think we’ll be able to maintain a premium price."

Skyworth made its CES debut this year, saying it would have a 75-inch 8K TV in the U.S. for $5,999. It’s selling 8K TVs in China but hasn’t announced 8K plans for the U.S. or Canada, Homlish said. “It is something we have in our arsenal of products that we can bring to market.” Skyworth belongs to the UHD Alliance and is studying possible Filmmaker Mode backing, he said. Filmmaker Mode has the support of TV brands Hisense, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, TP Vision and Vizio, plus Kaleidescape backing in the custom integrator channel.

ATSC 3.0 won’t be part of the Skyworth lineup before 2022, said consultant Steve Panosian, StePan Consulting, saying Skyworth is focusing on design and “strong build quality” in the launch round. “When we start to look at putting more cost into a television that we are trying to position keeping value in mind, the only attribute for an ATSC 3.0 tuner is future-proofing.” That makes sense for OLED product but is a challenge for a sub $500 TV, he said. Panosian predicted a “complete migration” to ATSC 3.0 by 2022.

Panosian referenced the transition from analog to digital TV when an FCC mandate was driven by market penetration of digital broadcasts and DirecTV support for HDTV. “When it comes to this new gen ATSC 3.0, there isn’t any consistency across the market,” he said. “There’s independently owned broadcasters that are making investments -- Sinclair is one of them -- and it’s just not clear what the timelines are, if everybody’s going to be broadcasting 4K, are they going to be broadcasting HDR," he asked. “Everybody and their brother is jumping on the bandwagon with their flavor of HDR formats."

Skyworth isn't in a position to address all the HDR formats, Panosian said. “For the everyday value shopper, outside of future-proofing, I’m not sure what the value of ATSC 3.0 today is.” On how streaming fits into that, Panosian cited Skyworth’s investment in Android TV 10. “The formats that we will support for decoding HDR will include hybrid log gamma, he said. App support for “something that’s 4K and HLG-generated content -- that’s something that could be possible.”

Skyworth’s U.S.-bound 2021 TVs target a customer looking for great performance, premium design and demonstrable feature differences, said Panosian, rather than features “that you may not see the difference.” He spotlighted an “ultra-wide-angle” view and step-up in color. “The Android 10 investment is going to be at the opening price point where smart TV features are implemented, and that experience is very compelling.” He cited faster, more intuitive operation and the ability to jump from app to app that’s “no different from changing a channel.” The Android TVs will also be enabled for smart home and Google Home integration.

Skyworth is talking with national accounts in the U.S. and Canada. Costco Canada will be picking up Skyworth products this month, and the company is working with The Brick, an appliance and electronics chain. It’s in discussions with “all the big box retailers" in the U.S., Homlish said.

Skyworth has manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, China, Africa and Europe. It used its Indonesia factory for TVs imported into the U.S. “when tariffs were in a high position," Homlish said. Today, most of the TVs are being brought in from China. “We’re well-prepared for 2021, regardless of what happens, to be able to utilize any number of our factories around the world.”

On supply chain, Homlish said availability is limited today as Skyworth sets its sights on 2021. Some 2020 TVs are continuing to come into the U.S., but “we’re pretty much sold out,” of 2020 product, he said. The company will support retailers it's currently doing business with, and begin to present its 2021 lineup later this month to other potential partners, including big box retailers.

The biggest challenge for the Chinese TV maker, which has been producing TVs since 1988, is taking on brands that have established themselves as premium in the U.S. Going against brands like Samsung, LG and Sony, “is what keeps me up at night,” said Homlish. “We’ll have product and technology that will be able to go up against anyone in the industry, but we’re going up against people that have been in this industry for a number of years,” he said.

It won’t be the first time Homlish has been in this position, noting when he joined Samsung in 2000, it wasn’t a well-known brand among U.S. consumers. “If they did recognize it, it was not as a premium brand.” Based on Skyworth’s 2021 offering, “at a price delta below” top-tier manufacturers, Skyworth has "a great opportunity to bring to market premium design, premium performance product, at a more affordable price” -- to a younger, brand-agnostic audience, he said. The company will use social media to develop brand awareness in the U.S. and won't advertise its TVs on TV, because “I’m not sure how important that is today.”