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Despite a 7% Y/Y dip in global TV shipments, retail sales in North America have been steady, if not exciting, and unit shipments were up almost 3% in Q3'12 after posting small declines in 1H'12, Display Research announced.
The trend in the US
market has been toward bigger and cheaper TVs, in the U.S. market
lately, which is expected to be the focus during Black Friday this year.
“Procurement typically peaks at the end of Q3 for the upcoming
holiday shopping season in the US. Since many retailers are focusing on
big opening sales during Black Friday and promotions during pre-Black
Friday, inventory has been building overtime to a level that will
satisfy the demand,” observed Paul Gagnon, Director of Global TV
Research for NPD DisplaySearch. “Based on the early promotional prices
released ahead of Black Friday, retailers seem quite aggressive in
starting the holiday season strong for TV sales.”
Worldwide TV shipments fell on a Y/Y basis for the fourth straight
quarter, as demand in Japan and Western Europe fell sharply. TV
shipments in Japan were down over 70% Y/Y for the second quarter in a
row, while Western Europe shipments fell more than 15%. Flat panel TV
growth in emerging regions were lower than expected, especially in Asia
Pacific, where the Indian TV market looks to decline in Q3’12, due to
little retail set price erosion.
TV shipments in China grew over 13% Y/Y in Q3’12 as set makers
anticipated demand for TVs during the Golden Week holidays in October.
Growth was also helped by the new energy efficiency rebate program that
started in June. Both factors led Chinese TV makers to increase
production. As plasma TV shipments continue to decline, LCD remains the
dominant flat panel TV technology, capturing a 16% Q/Q increase in
unit shipments. However, overall LCD TV unit sales fell in Q3’12,
down 1% Y/Y. This marks three straight quarters of annual Y/Y
shipment declines. Even with a growing share, the overall level of
demand worldwide continues to fall in 2012, impacting LCD shipments.
LED LCD TV shipments continue to climb, exceeding 70% of units
and 80% of revenues for total global TV shipments. North America had
the lowest LED and 3D shipment penetration of any region worldwide since
these consumers are most interested in screen size and price. Large
screen sizes also continue to have strong growth, with the average
shipped TV size increasing more than 6% to 35.8”—the highest growth yet.
Table 1: Q3’12 Worldwide TV Shipments by Technology
Technology |
Q3'12
Units |
Q3’12
Unit Share |
Q/Q
Growth |
Y/Y
Growth |
LCD TV |
51,088 |
88.0% |
16% |
-1% |
PDP TV |
3,332 |
5.7% |
6% |
-20% |
OLED TV |
0 |
0.0% |
- |
-85% |
CRT TV |
3,647 |
6.3% |
-16% |
-43% |
RPTV |
9 |
0.0% |
-40% |
-59% |
Total |
58,076 |
100% |
12% |
-7% |
Both Samsung and LGE increased global flat panel TV revenues Y/Y by
3% and 1%, respectively, remaining the top 2 brands overall.
Samsung’s share was down slightly from Q2’12, but it was still more than
10% higher than LGE’s share. The top 3 Japanese brands saw
revenues decline at a double-digit pace from last year, although Sharp
enjoyed a strong boost to its revenue share from Q2’12 to Q3’12.
Overall, Chinese brands captured a lot of market share in Q3’12 due to
the seasonal brand shift to China ahead of the Golden Week holidays.
Table 2: Q3’12 Worldwide Flat Panel TV Brand Ranking by Revenue Share
Rank |
Brand |
Q2'12
Share |
Q3'12
Share |
Q/Q
Growth |
Y/Y
Growth |
1 |
Samsung |
28.2% |
25.2% |
-3% |
3% |
2 |
LGE |
15.2% |
14.0% |
1% |
1% |
3 |
Sony |
8.4% |
7.0% |
-10% |
-34% |
4 |
Sharp |
5.0% |
6.5% |
42% |
-18% |
5 |
Panasonic |
6.8% |
6.2% |
-1% |
-30% |
6 |
Other |
36.4% |
41.1% |
23% |
-1% |
|
Total |
100.0% |
100.0% |
9% |
-6% |
|