Global TV Shipments Drop Below 197 Million for the 1st Time

In response to a recent advisory from research entity TrendForce, NVIDIA is strategically expanding its High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chip supply chain for enhanced stability. Anticipated completion of the validation process for Samsung's HBM3 (24GB) is slated for December 2023.

TrendForce's comprehensive study reveals a notable surge in TV panel prices throughout 2023, prompting major brands to scale back promotional endeavors. This, combined with the prevailing high-interest rate environment impacting consumer spending, is expected to result in a 2.1% year-on-year decline in global TV shipments for 2023, totaling 197 million units.

The traditionally robust fourth quarter of 2023, marked by a mere 4.7% sequential growth rate, witnessed a decade-low increase in both growth percentage and shipment volume, reaching 54.55 million units with a 1.7% year-on-year decrease. Since the latter half of 2021, coinciding with the gradual easing of the pandemic in Europe and the Americas, discernible reductions in TV shipments have been observed in the fourth quarters of 2022 and 2023, indicating an early saturation of TV demand. Factors contributing to this trend include evolving consumer habits and an uncertain economic outlook, posing challenges to sustained TV shipment growth.

Samsung is poised to maintain its preeminence in global TV shipments in 2023, with an estimated 36.3 million units, albeit experiencing a 9.8% year-on-year decrease and a 1.2% reduction in market share to 18.5%. The impact of inflation in Europe and the Americas led Samsung Electronics to witness a significant downturn in shipments of mid-to-high-end products, including 8K, MiniLED, and QLED. Notably, the QD OLED category exhibited a remarkable 153% growth, reaching 890,000 units and bolstering Samsung's market share in the OLED TV market to 16.6%.

Securing the second position, Hisense achieved a shipment of approximately 27 million units, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 12.4%. Meanwhile, TCL recorded a shipment of around 26.2 million units, demonstrating a 16.3% year-on-year increase. Both Chinese manufacturers strategically employed localized production to optimize costs and implemented a competitive pricing strategy in global markets to augment their market share.

Contrastingly, LG faced headwinds in the OLED market, witnessing a nearly 30% year-on-year decrease, resulting in a 7.4% overall decline in shipments to 22.91 million units.

Looking forward to 2024, industry analysts forecast a marginal 0.2% increase in global TV shipments to 197 million units. This growth is anticipated to be driven by major global events such as the Olympics and the UEFA European Championship. The likelihood of TV panels falling below cash costs is considered remote, as panel manufacturers adopt stringent price control measures. However, the prospect of a sustained decline in TV shipments throughout 2024 remains contingent on unforeseen geopolitical conflicts or unexpected factors adversely impacting the global economy.