Samsung, LG Combine to Top World TV Market in 1H

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics likely combined to top the world TV market in the first half of the year, consumer industry sources in Korea said yesterday.

In the second quarter, Samsung sold six million units and LG 3.7 million units of LCD televisions, surpassing Japan’s leading’s maker Sony, which sold 3.2 million to 3.4 million. LCDs usually account for more than half of all TV sales.

Samsung first outdid Sony in revenue in January 2006 and LG did the same in the first quarter of this year.

By market share, Korean consumer electronics makers last year owned 34 percent of the world TV market while their Japanese counterparts combined for 40 percent. The gap between the two nations’ electronics makers narrowed significantly in the first quarter, when Korean manufacturers owned 35 percent and Japanese 37 percent.

Jang Seong-won, a research fellow at Samsung Economic Research Institute, said, “Korean electronics makers showed good performance in the high value-added LCD and LED TV sectors in the year’s first two quarters. Given that, Korea is highly likely to top the global television market when its first half performance is officially released.”

Global TV makers are in an intense competition to develop state-of-the-art technologies and promote their products. Korea has often outdone Japan in memory semiconductors and shipbuilding but trails in consumer electronics.

abc@donga.com smhong@donga.com