By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
Samsung Electronics’ positioning in the global liquid crystal display (LCD) market should come as no surprise. The world’s biggest TV set maker once again claimed its authority in that market.
Samsung gained a top share of 22.1 percent in the global LCD TV market by revenue shares in the first three months of this year, according to the data from DisplaySearch, a market research firm. Japan’s Sony and its local rival Sharp followed with 18.1 percent and 10.1 percent over the same period, respectively.
On a brand basis, Samsung was found to lead the global brand share in terms of revenue for the ninth straight quarter, improving to more than 20 percent for the first time on a robust 39 percent year-on-year growth.
By shipments, the company ranked top, while Sony was No. 2 on a revenue basis for the third straight quarter, declining to about 13.2 percent revenue share after a strong fourth-quarter performance. LG Electronics remained the third-largest player, leveraging a No. 2 unit share position to offset lower than average selling prices (ASPs). ASP is a key measurement to gauge profitability.
LCD TV’s continue to post the strongest growth, rising 45 percent year-on-year to 21.1 million units, though this was the weakest quarter of growth to date.
Plasma TV (PDP) also enjoyed yearly growth, climbing 20 percent to nearly 2.8 million units, mostly from new shipments of niche 32-inch models. In global PDP revenue shares, Panasonic kept the top share of 33.7 percent, followed by 22.7 percent for Samsung and 16.4 percent for LG.
However, the firm said global TV unit shipment growth slowed down in the quarter with only a 1 percent increase on a yearly basis because of the ongoing economic turmoil in the United States undermining the demand for TVs of 40-inches and larger.
``The results show us that Samsung is widening the market gap with overseas rivals,’’ a Samsung spokesman said.