Samsung cements TV market lead in Q1; LG tops OLED segment

Samsung Electronics Co. has retained the top spot in the global TV market in the first quarter of this year, cementing its lead in the ultra-large premium segment, while its local peer LG Electronics Inc. maintained its No. 1 position in the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV market, according to Omdia.

TV shipments worldwide declined 1% in the quarter to their lowest single first-quarter level since 2009. But the research firm forecasts the global TV market will begin its rebound from the three-year dip from this quarter.

Samsung made up 29.3% and 18.7% of the global TV market in terms of sales value and volume in the January-March quarter, respectively. The figures represent the largest share among TV makers.

The South Korean brand has led the global TV market for 18 consecutive years since 2006.

In the first quarter, ultra-large premium TVs drove sales higher after the company unveiled the AI-enabled Neo QLED TV at CES 2024, the world’s largest tech show, in January. QLED is short for quantum dot LED.

Particularly, Samsung dominated the market of premium TVs with price tags of $2,500 or above, accounting for 53.2% of sales.

For models priced $1,500 or more, it controlled 55.2%.

Of ultra-large TV sales, it accounted for 29.6% of 75-inch or larger TVs and 34.4% of 80-inch or bigger TVs.

LG LEADS OLED TV MARKET

In the world's TV market, LG Electronics came second with a share of 16.6% in sales value in the first quarter.

By sales volume, however, it lost out to China’s TCL Electronics, which claimed 12.6% share.

In the OLED TV market, LG commanded 52% of 627,000 shipment units in the first quarter. Samsung trailed LG with a market share of 27.0%.

THE BIGGER THE BETTER

Shipments of 70-inch or larger-sized OLED TVs, classified as ultra-large models, expanded their share by 4.6 percentage points to 14.1% in the first quarter. That is the largest percentage for the segment for a single first quarter.

LG commanded 53% of shipments in the 70-inch or larger-sized OLED models.

In the 80-inch or larger OLED TVs, LG accounted for 58.4% of shipments, led by its 97-inch model, the world’s largest in the category.

Including both OLED and LCD TVs, LG shipped 5.41 million units in the first quarter, equivalent to 16.6% of global TV shipments in terms of value.

In the global TV market, OLED models accounted for 1.21 million shipment units in the period, with their sales making up 28% of TV sales.

TV shipments shrank by 1% to 46.4 million units globally in the quarter from the same period the year prior. That is the lowest level for a single first quarter since 2009.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at Why29@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.