Korea takes bigger share in TV market

By Kim Yoo-chul

Korea has dominated the global TV market with its technology firms’ share growing year after year over its Japanese and Chinese counterparts.

DisplaySearch, a division of the NPD Group, said Korea took up 38.4 percent of global demand during the second quarter of this year, followed by 25.1 percent by Japan and 19.6 by China.

``It’s interesting to see that the gap with Korea and Japan has widened to 13.3 percent from 11.2 percent a quarter earlier and Korea is expected to mainatin its lead in the sector as the nation is home to the world’s top two TV makers in Samsung and LG Electronics,’’ said the research firm, Sunday.

Samsung was the world’s biggest TV producer in the second quarter with a global market share of 28.5 percent in terms of revenue, according to DisplaySearch.

This is the 26th straight winning quarter, said Samsung spokesman Song Cheol-gyu, Sunday. The company is looking to secure its top position for the seventh straight year after it passed Sony of Japan as the top TV maker since 2006.

Revenue during the April-June period was $6.97 billion, an increase of $1.08 billion from the previous quarter, while the Korean technology powerhouse sold 10.5 million flat-screen televisions that include liquid-crystal display (LCD) TVs and plasma sets during the quarter, the research firm said.

``Since the third quarter of last year, Samsung has been sold over 10 million TVs quarterly. The rises both in shipments and revenue were due to our focus on high-end, premium sets, though the demand for televisions is still weak, in general,’’ said the Samsung spokesman.

While the growth of flat-screen TV sales seems to have plateaued in developed markets like the United States, DisplaySearch found that there are still plenty of cathode ray-tube (CRT) sets to be replaced in countries like China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico.

Consumers in the United States may have started slowing down the process of replacing their old CRT televisions with fancy new flat-screens. But happily for TV manufacturers, there are still plenty of bulky cathode ray-tube sets to be replaced in emerging markets like China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico.

LG Electronics has also benefited from the trend.

The runner-up firm raised both its revenue- and shipment-based profile. LG’s global share was 15.2 percent during the latest quarter after quarterly revenue was $3.72 billion, an increase of $410 million from a quarterly earlier, according to DisplaySearch.

It sold 6.81 million flat-screen TVs during the April-June period, for a 14.4 percent global share in terms of shipments. ``LG Electronics is trying hard to see a quality-based growth, not quantity-driven expansion,’’ said company spokesman Yoon Won-il.

Brighter times by Korean TV makers contrasts the sluggish performances by their Japanese rivals.

Once TV-titan Sony suffered a decline in quarterly revenue of more than $100 million to reach some $2 billion, and local rival Sharp also reported a drop in terms of revenue during the quarter as it fell $245 million to $1.22 billion. The other Japanese TV major Panasonic was the only one to increase quarterly revenue.

``While developed markets may be flattening out, there’s still plenty of growth potential overseas. The good news is that a large number of markets still have a long way to go toward replacing all CRTs with flat panel TVs, which should continue to sustain growth, but mostly in emerging markets,” wrote Riddhi Patel, DisplaySearch’s research director.