Samsung becomes the world’s largest TV manufacturer since 2006

Samsung Electronics has been the largest TV manufacturer in the world for 14 years in a row. The great sales of its premium QLED TV selection is thought to have played a part. The South Korean company has solidified its place in the premium market while maintaining the units sold despite rising competition from affordable Chinese brands.

In the meantime, LG Electronics has also sold more than one million OLED TVs for the first time in the fourth quarter of last year.

According to the research firm IHS Markit on Wednesday, Samsung Electronics secured its place as the world’s largest TV manufacturer by recording 30.9 percent market share in the fourth quarter of last year in terms of sales. It was the first time the South Korean tech giant recorded more than 30 percent market share. LG Electrics, Sony and Hisense took up 16.3 percent, 9.4 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.

Samsung Electronics was also the largest in terms of units sold with 19.8 percent market share, followed by LG Electronics which accounted for 12.2 percent. TLC, Hisense and Xiaomi made up 9.2 percent, 7.8 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.

Samsung Electronics’ increasing market share is credited to the popularity of its QLED TVs whose share in sales is rising every year. Last year saw Samsung’s QLED TV units sold double to about 5.32 million. A total of 5.97 million QLED TVS were sold in the market last year, meaning most of them were Samsung products. With much more pixels, QLED TVs boast high resolution. QLED 8K TVs, in particular, have four times more pixels compared to UHD TVs.


Hyun-Seok Lim lhs@donga.com