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Tag: TV sales

  • Smart TVs Expected to be in Sales Majority in China

    At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), TV manufacturers focused on two features that they hope will sell their devices in the stagnating TV market. One is ultra HD (UHD) TV, an increased resolution that is predicted to become popular, but only when prices for UHD displays drop for the consumer market and a corresponding wealth of 4K content is available to those same consumers. The other feature is smart TV integration, a concept whose time seems to have come and one that could prove very popular in markets that analysts predict much of the tech industry’s growth will come from in the next decade.

    According to a new DigiTimes report, over half of the TVs sold in China this year are expected to have smart TV capabilities. This includes access to streaming on-demand video and other online-enabled features directly through television sets using an internet connection.

    DigiTimes’ unnamed “market observers” stated that around 60% of TVs sold in China during 2014 will be smart TVs. The report’s sources believe that the added features will help push smart TVs over normal HD displays now that more streaming content is entering Chinese markets. TV manufacturers are now making deals with content providers to make smart TVs a better value proposition.

    The report’s sources also mentioned that UHD TV will play a greater role in China during 2014. However with streaming content just taking off in China, it seems it might be some time before consumers will be willing to give up their new smart TVs for even newer UHD displays.

    Image via Hisense

  • 4K TV Market Predicted to Take Off Next Year

    Now that the 3D TV movement is essentially dead, manufacturers are pushing 4K TV as the next big reason for consumers to buy a new TV. With 4K content almost nonexistent and 4K TV sets priced far higher than similar-sized HDTV units, those manufacturers haven’t had much luck yet.

    Next year could be the tipping point, though, if a new DigiTimes report can be believed. The report predicts that 4K TV panel shipments will hit 26 million by the end of 2014 – nearly ten times as many as are expected to ship this year.

    The report’s unnamed “industry sources” state that prices for 4K TV panels are already expected to fall next year as manufacturers begin to truly expand their 4K TV offerings. Most 4K TV sales are expected to come from China, though most of those will be what DigiTimes is classifying as “entry level” sets (39- to 50-inch displays). However, the report’s sources state that Samsung and Sony are expecting to see “significant increases in shipments” for high-end 4K TVs (those with 55- to 85-inch displays) to established markets in the west.

    Though the fast growth of the industry will be good news for manufacturers, it is also tempered by the realization that content and low prices will have to lead the market. Last week market research firm ABI Research predicted that it will take until 2018 for just 10% of North American households to have a 4K TV. That is when, according to ABI, we can expect 4K content to catch up and 4K TV prices to drop along with manufacturing costs.

    (Image courtesy Samsung)

  • 4K TV Adoption Coming Along Slowly

    With 3D TV a bust, the TV industry now set to contract for the second year in a row. With established markets now content with their current HDTV sets, TV manufacturers are looking for 4K TV to be the next set-selling technology.

    Unfortunately for those manufacturers, it will take years for 4K TV to become a real player in the market. Research firm ABI Research today released a report predicting that it will take until the year 2017 for just 5% of North American households to adopt 4K technology. After that, though, 4K is expected to take off with the firm estimating that 10% of North American households will have a 4K TV in 2018.

    Much of the reason that 4K TV sets are not selling comes down to content and price. There simply isn’t enough 4K content for consumers to consider upgrading their TV sets. This is especially true when mixed with the fact that the least expensive branded 4K TV sets sell for several thousand dollars minimum.

    The uptick in 4K sales that ABI sees coming in four years will be a factor of these situations changing. Video services such as Sony’s Video Unlimited 4K download service are expected to mature in the coming years. Manufacturing costs will also drop quickly, leading to lower, consumer-friendly prices for 4K TV sets. These combined factors are expected to drive 4K TV sales through the end of the decade.

    “Unlike 3D, which required awkward glasses, 4K has the legs to become an industry norm,” said Sam Rosen, practice director at ABI. “This isn’t a sprint, however, and it will take time for the necessary infrastructure, installed base of devices, and content to come together before 4K becomes an integral part of how the typical TV household consumes video content. We expect this could start to happen as early as 2018 in some regions. In the meantime, many consumers will have 4K panels without 4K content, or 4K game consoles without a 4K display, and will claim a superior 4K experience even though the technical merits are not quantifiable.”

    (Image courtesy Samsung)

  • TV Sales to Drop For Second Year in a Row

    With 3D TV sets a failure and 4K TV content virtually nonexistent, TV manufacturers are offering nothing new to consumers this fall. Add in the fact that flat-panel and smart TV adoption has reached saturation levels in established markets, and manufacturers can look forward to a disappointing holiday quarter this year.

    Market research firm IHS today released its prediction for the worldwide TV market for the year 2013. The firm estimates that TV shipments will fall to an estimated 226.7 million units this year – a 5% drop from the 238.2 million units shipped in 2012. This would make 2013 the second straight year that TV shipments have declined, after a 7% drop in shipments last year over the 255.2 million TVs shipped in 2011.

    “A wide range of factors are conspiring to undermine television shipments in 2013, from economic weakness and market saturation of flat-panel TVs in mature regions, to plunging CRT sales in developing countries,” said Jusy Hong, senior analyst for consumer electronics & technology at IHS. “This is all adding up to a second consecutive year of decline for the television market.”

    It’s not only flat-panel LCD TV shipments that are expected to decline, though those popular models are expected to decline by at least 1%. IHS sees every type of TV in decline, including CRT and plasma displays. Sales of rear-projection TVs are expected to “dwindle to nothing,” according to the firm.

    In addition to mature markets becoming saturated, IHS is putting some of the TV decline on the continued global economic downturn. TV sales in Japan and Western Europe in particular have been declining for three years in a row. In addition, the disappearance of CRT TVs is causing consumers in emerging markets to think twice about more expensive flat-panel displays.

  • TV Sales Expected to Decline This Holiday Season

    HDTV sets are now ubiquitous throughout the U.S., with high quality, low cost sets available at retail locations across the country. While good for consumers, manufacturers are now scrambling to find a way to get consumers to spend money on TV hardware more often than once every handful of years.

    The jump to 4K could provide the needed boost for HDTV vendors, though 4K content is just beginning to appear, and consumers don’t seem to be as enthusiastic for the technology as they were for the jump to HD. Samsung’s scheme to update TV hardware with yearly upgrade kits is novel, though it too has not caught on with the wider consumer market.

    These difficulties could lead to a dismal holiday sales season for TV manufacturers. Market research firm IHS today released a report predicting that U.S. shipments of flat-panel TV sets will drop 7% from 2012 shipment levels during the second half of this year. Only 20.1 million flat-panel displays are expected to ship during the period. Shipments for the year are expected to drop 9% year-over-year to just 43.1 million units shipped.

    “Driven by holiday sales, the second half of the year is always critical for determining the fate of the U.S. TV market,” said Veronica Thayer, analyst for consumer electronics and technology at IHS. “However, even with TV brands offering lower prices during this year’s Black Friday than they did in 2012, sales in the second half will decelerate sharply. The U.S. television market continues to be stymied by the long-term slowdown in replacement and secondary purchases, with most U.S. homes already owning one or more flat-screen televisions.”

    The estimates corroborate recent rumors in the manufacturing industry. A recent DigiTimes report holds that worldwide TV shipments during the fourth quarter of 2013 will be down year-over-year. The report’s unnamed “industry sources” also state that demand for TVs in the U.S. and Europe have been “less-than-expected” this year.