Advanced television sales continue to escalate with Ultra HD TVs on pace to take 50% of global TV shipments for full year 2018, as total television unit shipments rise 3.6% year over year to 226 million units, according to a new IHS Markit report.
The market research firm said that following declining sales in overall television shipments brought on, in part, by shortages of LCD panels, the television business is back on the upswing.
The opening of new 10.5 Gen. panel fabs and others have contributed to greater panel availability, which should contribute to further television market growth to a predicted 1.4% rise in unit shipments in 2019.
Of the Ultra HD television segment, IHS said new 8K TVs from major global TV brands will launch toward the end of 2018, kicking off the next wave of resolution transition.
“Growth in the TV market typically is the result of more attractive retail prices for large-screen sizes and the continued commoditization of 4K resolution, driving TV replacements and upgrades,” stated Paul Gagnon, research and analysis executive director, IHS Markit. “However, this growth through price compression has a negative effect on profits, so TV brands are actively looking for more growth from advanced TV models to improve earnings.”
Technologies like 8K, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and quantum dot (QD) carry substantial premiums, and even 4K TVs still carry premiums of more than 35 percent at screen sizes where 1080p resolution is still an available option. This is seen in screen sizes of 40 to 49 inches, IHS said.
IHS Markit forecasts that the 8K TV segment will grow from less than 20,000 units in 2018 to more than 430,000 in 2019. The report said global unit sales should reach 2 million units by 2020.
Further, the firm anticipates all of the growth will be centered on 60-inch and larger screen sizes, with 65-inch TVs accounting for more than half of the volume.
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OLED TV is expected to grow more than 40 percent globally in 2019, rising to 3.6 million units, IHS said.
“This growth is in line with previous forecasts, because demand is essentially matching industry production capacity. The size mix still favors 55-inch TVs, based on current prices, but it will transition to mostly 65-inch TVs by 2020, when new production capacity is optimized for larger screen sizes, and when substantial growth is expected in the OLED TV category,” IHS said.
Meanwhile, the research firm predicts quantum dot-based LCD TV shipments will exceed 4 million units in 2019, based on more aggressive pricing and the introduction of transitional quantum-dot-equipped LCD TV models.
“The high-end prices of non-QD-equipped LCD TV models and the prices of the low end QD-equipped LCD TV models have moved closer together,” Gagnon said. “This extension of the quantum dot LCD TV lineup into more moderate price ranges effectively reduces the quantum dot premium to less than 100 percent at mid-range sizes, opening up the category to a larger addressable market of consumers.”
By Greg Tarr
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