Chinese TV maker TCL has overtaken Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) to become the global leader in liquid-crystal display (LCD) TV shipments. With the overall TV market stagnant, Chinese makers have closed in on Samsung by expanding their lineups from budget to premium models.
TCL held a 13.8% share of global LCD TV shipments in June, edging out Samsung Electronics at 13.7% by 0.1 percentage point, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 18th. TCL has topped Samsung before, and the two companies continue to trade the top spot back and forth.
TCL is expanding its market presence with its X11L, C8L and C7L series of mini-LED TVs, built on its own Super Quantum Dot (SQD) technology — quantum dots being ultrafine semiconductor particles used to produce color. It has also segmented its lineup by price, placing RGB (red, green, blue) mini-LED sets such as the RM9L in the large premium tier.
Samsung Electronics has responded with new mini-LED lineups including the M80H, M70H, S95H and R95H. By extending its RGB backlight technology beyond flagship models to budget sets, it is competing with TCL across every price range.
The overall TV market remained flat. Global TV shipments fell 0.4% year-on-year in the second quarter, essentially unchanged. June shipments dropped 4% from a year earlier. Counterpoint Research attributed the June decline to World Cup promotions that pulled TV demand forward into April.
The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV market, by contrast, continued to grow. Global OLED TV shipments rose 12% year-on-year in June and 20% for the second quarter as a whole. LG Electronics (066570.KS) held more than half the market in both June and the second quarter, keeping its No. 1 position.
LG Display is also moving to cut costs to make OLED TVs more price-competitive. After releasing "WOLED SE," which lowers costs by removing the polarizer, it is developing a tandem structure — a panel with two stacked emission layers — that maintains picture quality. The strategy is to lower the entry price of OLED TVs and win back consumers who have shifted to mini-LED.
"In recent years, OLED TVs have ceded ground in the ultra-premium segment to relatively cheaper mini-LED TVs," said Bob O'Brien, director at Counterpoint Research. "By offering lower-priced OLED TV panels, LG Display has a strong chance of winning back some customers who moved to mini-LED TVs."
