What if Samsung and LG's stranglehold on the Smart TV market ended in the near future? Chinese brands are on the lookout.
After several decades of domination in the television sector – and more particularly Smart TVs since their democratization in the 2010s – Samsung and LG are losing momentum in the face of increasingly threatening Chinese competitors. Including in the high-end TV segment, which has been their preserve for quite some time.
But the two major Korean manufacturers are struggling to reinvent themselves to slow down the rise of the Hisense and TCL brandsthe main representatives of this Chinese “awakening” on the Smart TV market. So should we expect them to dethrone LG and Samsung in the coming years? Our answers.
Chinese brands are gaining ground in the Smart TV market
To better understand the trend emerging in the connected television sector, you must first look at the latest figures communicated by the institute Counterpoint Research. And the observation is edifying: while Samsung and LG had 63% market share during the 3rd quarter of 2023, these two brands only have “only” 46% over the same period in 2024. The fault of Chinese manufacturers, in particular Hisense and TCL which jumped since last year.
Samsung was also the manufacturer most impacted by this competition, since it saw its market shares decrease by 13% (from 43% to 30%). Opposite results for Hisense which goes from 14% to 24% in 2024, while benefiting from a general increase in sales of 10% compared to last year (in particular thanks to special promotions around the Paris Olympics).
After a drop of 6% in 2023, the region (of Europe, editor's note) should experience growth of 10% in 2024 based on the sum of TV sales from the first to third quarters. (…) Eastern Europe, which represents 44% of the European market, is growing faster than Western Europe. While Western Europe has experienced a drop of 14% in 2023it should recover with growth of 9% in 2024. (Source: report of Counterpoint Research)
As a reminder: the European market had been largely impacted by the Ukrainian conflict between 2022 and 2023, before the demand for QD-LCD and QD-OLED TVs increases again. But then, what can explain such a turnaround in favor of TCL and Hisense? And above all, how can LG and Samsung avoid being devoured in Chinese style in the years to come?
Increasingly innovative technologies
If manufacturers TCL and Hisense can find themselves in such a strong position at the moment, it is largely thanks to the emergence of Mini-LED TVs whose sales have doubled in one year. And the Chinese brands smelled it in time, standing out in particular thanks to their very large screens which are even more sold than those of Samsung at present. Few would have bet on this in 2023.
Nevertheless, it is a safe bet that the Korean firm will respond from 2025 with new models over 80 inches. It now remains to be seen whether this will be enough to worry TCL and Hisense in their mad race…
For its part, LG hopes that its next OLED televisions – a technology that the Seoul manufacturer has mastered perfectly, despite certain problems that still bother buyers – will allow it to remain attractive to customers. Even if we will have to deal with the much more aggressive approach of Chinese brands, and in particular their future large format OLED TVs at reduced prices. So you will have understood, it’s a hell of a fog that stands in the way of Samsung and LG…
A bright future for TCL and Hisense, facing the decline of their rivals?
The trajectories should soon begin to cross, between the growing success of Chinese manufacturers and the gradual running out of steam of the two giants of the sector. Especially since very large screens are becoming more and more popular, partly thanks to new inkjet printing methods which drastically reduce the manufacturing costs of OLED TVs.
And on this precise point, it is clear that the TCL and Hisense brands have already taken a slight lead over their rivals and that they count hit hard at CES 2025 with sizeable announcements. On the program: new OLED panels over 110 inches which will be mass produced and which should be marketed at unbeatable prices.
But then, will Samsung and LG manage to jump on the XXL TV train and offer competitive prices before it's too late? In any case, we would be wrong to bury them so soon because they are already betting big on artificial intelligenceand that their experience in the market should allow them to stay afloat for quite a while. Unless Apple shows up with its famous, long-awaited TV project…
