Tag: LCD TVs

Samsung hangs on to LCD TV lead

Posted on February 5, 2015 by - News

LCDscreenGiant South Korean chaebol Samsung had 22.8 percent of the LCD TV market last year, outstripping the second Korean player, LG Electronics.
A report from Trendforce said Sony came third in place with a market share of only 6.8 percent, compared to LG Electronics’ 14.9 percent.
In all, 215 million LCD TVs shipped in 2014, more than the market expected.  Factors that helped the 5.4 percent growth included the US economic recovery and strong promotion of larger size TVs.
But the top three vendors need to keep their eyes on the ball.  Trend force said that Chinese brands occupied positions from the fourth to the seventh.
They are making progress globally because the home Chinese market is saturated and they are pricing their brands aggressively.
Well known brands such as Philips and Toshiba have vanished out of the top ten vendor list.

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LCD TVs on the rebound

Posted on January 2, 2015 by - News

lgscreensWhile times were slack for LCD TVs during 2013, the market swung sharply upwards in 2014 and times ahead look rosy too.

That’s the prediction market research company Displaysearch makes, saying that total units shot up by 10 percent in the third quarter of 2014.  It estimates that total shipmets for 2014 will amount to 223 million units, a rise of seven percent over the year before.

Sales were particularly strong in North America and Asia Pacific, according to senior research analyst Paul Gagnon.  He said growth was fuelled by people replacing older flat panel TVs while in Asia many had moved away from CRT (cathode ray tube) TVs to LCD TVs.

Larger screen sizes apears to be the name of the game, as vendors seek to encourage people to upgrade.  And there’s increasingly strong demand for 4K LCD units – Displaysearch estimates that the market for these will grow by over 50 percent in 2015, amounting to 32 million units.

But there’s a warning to manufacturers too – Gagnon said that they have to be careful they don’t end up with too much stock during the first quarter of this year.

That might be bad news for them, but it’s likely to make the price of units cheaper for the common man and woman if there is an overstock crisis.

LG shows off 4K TV designs

Posted on December 30, 2014 by - News

lgscreensThe Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas next week and already vendors are seeking to hog the headlines by pre-announcing what they’ll be showing off.

Korean manufacturer LG said it it will show off a number of LED 4K Ultra HD TVs at the show that it will launch during 2015.

The TVs use different phosphor based LEDs and LG claims that gives better colour depth, more lifelike images, and a 25 percent increase in the colour range.

The TVs have 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution with something called inplane switching 4K panels which have the effect of allowing wider viewing angles.

LG will also show off an ultra thin Slim TV, while five of the products it will launch next year will include an ultra surround system, co-developed with Harmon/Kardon.

The company said it will also show off its smart TV software, webOS 2.0, which reduces boot time by up to 60 percent.

It will also show off an algorithm which renders SD, HD and full HD content into Ultra HD images.

Intel set to cancel notebook subsidies

Posted on December 29, 2014 by - News

intel_log_reversedMoney that Intel has diverted to notebook manufacturers to stimulate demand for the machines is set to dry up next year.

That’s according to Taiwanese government quango Market Intelligence and Consulting (MIC), which also predicts the PC industry will flatline or even fall during the year.

Analyst Charles Chou told the Taipei Times that firms that got subsidies from Intel in an attempt to push notebook sales will find themselves out of pocket when Intel cancels the subsidies.  He said that the only growth areas were likely to be Chromebooks and sales of machines to educational markets.

But in brighter news he said that we’ll all see more affordable 4K LCD TVs in 2015. He expects that the market wordwide will hit close to 30,000 units.

But if you don’t want a 40-inch or above LCD TV, the news is not too bright.  32-inch panels don’t have big margins and the manufacturers are concentrating their efforts on making ever bigger LCD TVs, in a pursuit of healthier profits.

However, the manufacturers can’t pull the plug on 32-inch or smaller LCD TVs because people in many countries don’t have the money to spend on mega TVs.

It’s also likely they don’t have the space, either.

People start buying TVs again

Posted on November 26, 2014 by - News

oldtvShipments of TVs worldwide rose in the third quarter by four percent, bucking a trend that showed several previous quarters of weak growth.

LCD TV shipments rose by nine percent, according to IHS subsidiary Displaysearch, fuelled by uptake of TV screens in North America.

Plasma and CRT shipments continue to steadily decline.

China showed strong shipments, showing a nine percent growth in the quarter. That sector had been weakened a year ago after the central government withdrew subsidies.

Displaysearch analyst Paul Gagnon said the last few years were “difficult” for shipments and revenues but there is more resiliency now.  He said that in some regions there is a renewed replacement cycle, while larger screen sizes and 4K and better resolutions continue to tempt people to upgrade.

Here are the main 4K shipment leaders by brand.
tvbrands