Worldwide TV shipments are riding high, ending 2018 with the strongest growth rate this decade. Value is up by 6 per cent, according to a new market report from Futuresource Consulting. The report also suggests that 8k TVs, which have yet to find an audience, will grow considerably from 0.2 million units shipped in 2019, to 130 per cent CAGR by 2023, as brands get behind the technology.
Presenting at an 8k summit in New York, Samsung stated that 8k TV adoption could be solved by next generation 5G networks, adding that a transition to new TV resolution happens every 7 years. It believes that a concerted shift to 8K will begin this year.
Currently, the 8k battle is between OLED and LED LCD, and Samsung’s QLED variant. But this may change. Chinese major TCL is fast tracking radical new screen technologies, such as printed OLED screens and Mini-Led backlit sets.
Established players in the TV market have been looking at Micro-LED, but ruled out development because it’s just too expensive to mass produce. TCL is undeterred. At the recent IFA GPC it announced the 65-inch X10s and the 75-inch Q X10S 8k models, both Mini-LED QLED models which use 20,000 Mini-LED lamps to provide 1000 local dimming zones.
“Last year, worldwide TV shipments chalked up 227 million units, with a trade value of $85 billion,” says Matthew Rubin, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “All this action is the result of a number of factors, applying pressure and influencing the landscape. Price reductions for premium technologies like 4k have started to open up the mass market; meanwhile.”
Rubin adds that major investment in South East Asian production has helped both the local market, but driven down large screen pricing across the globe. “Despite some localised macro-economic problems, which have caused significant shipment fluctuations for several countries, the world view is positive.”