TV shipments are a great indicator of the consumer economy and researcher DisplaySearch makes it clear that TVs sales are back on the rise, but with some surprises.
One such surprise is that OLED screens remain a distant potential and after a few were sold last year and the year before, the rise and rise of dynamic LED backlit screens has taken over the focus, and are growing substantially as a percentage of the TV market. Virtually no OLED screens were shipped in Q1, DisplaySearch said and the technology is really only worthwhile at the 4 inch diagonal level used on phones, so far.
The latest shipment data from the DisplaySearch shows that total TV shipments went up 25% year over year in the first quarter to 55 million units, with LCD TV shipments up 50% to make 40 million of these.
Plasma technology surged 21% but only to 3.4 million units and CRT TVs, which had been falling at around 40% a year only fell 21%, partly because even poorer countries where these sell, need to ensure TV upgrades for the Soccer world cup. Bulky rear projection TVs fared the worst.
In Europe, the World Cup and analog switch off in several countries drove a 33% increase year over year in TV shipments during Q1. The US had just a 1% increase, partly due to constrained supply lines but partly a worse economic climate. LED backlit screens accounted for 8% of LCD TV Units and over 17% of revenues, DisplaySearch said.
Samsung remained in the lead in both units shipped and revenues and took 21.9% of global TV revenues in Q1, with LG way down in second place at 14.8% in revenue terms. Sony survived in third place but its share dropped to just under 10% after a strong surge in growth during Q4.
Sony revenues dropped 34% and was the only brand among the top five with a year on year decline in TV revenues. Panasonic and Sharp rounded out the top brands.