Source: All View Cloud Author: Bian Zheng
It took half a century for TV industry to come from the first TV to the application of CRT technology, but only 20 years from CRT to LCD. In the upcoming days, ULED, HDR, quantum dots, 8k, OLED, laser and more technologies are set to embrace a period of rapid expansion.
Data from All View Cloud (AVC) indicates that Chinese television register a retail volume of 50.89 million units in 2016, a year-on-year rise of 7.8%, retail sales of 156 billion Yuan, a year-on-year drop of 1.8%, and global shipments of 230 million units, a year-on-year increase of 0.75%. Consumption of color television in China accounted for 26% of world total. Chinese TV industry is evolving from a follower to a pace setter in terms of products and technologies. And this can be shown in the following five aspects:
Boom of new display technologies
Thanks to joint efforts of Internet TV brands and traditional TV makers, a wide array of new display technologies flourished, setting the trend of industry development. Despite of its advantages, OLED technology has long faced the issue of high cost, due to its low yields resulting from the complexity of manufacturing large size OLED panels. Year 2016 saw a significant step forward in domestic OLED industry: a 98-inch 8k OLED panel was jointly rolled out by Chinese panel producer BOE and TV maker Skyworth. This signifies the emergence of another OLED panel supplier after LG. The OLED TV screen industry is expected to see a rise in supply and more affordable prices of OLED televisions, which might accelerate the popularization of OLED display technologies.
Laser TV was another eye-catching display technology in 2016. Comparing to the low production capacity and high costs of ultra-large LCD display, laser TV has clear advantages in meeting household needs of ultra-large displays. According to data of all distribution channels from All View Cloud (AVC), laser TV made up 40% of 85" or larger televisions in Chinese market in 2016. As big size LCD screens go trendy among consumers, the demand for large televisions will continue to grow in 2017 and laser TVs will have more potential in China.
Main testing grounds for industrial design
TV acts as an integral part of a Chinese home. In a sitting room, it plays an increasing role in home furnishing. In the future, the exterior design of televisions will be more revolutionary and diverse, to reflect changes in home furnishing. Ultra-slim TVs accounted for 2.4% of market share in 2016. Curved-panel TVs have won the hearts of customers with its highly futuristic profile and made up for 5.4% of market share in 2016. Meanwhile, the intelligent design of frameless TVs allowed users to concentrate on contents and garnered 1.8% the market in 2016. Other differentiated industrial designs, such as golden bodies, individualized base mount or metallic frames have all allured rising interests.
Popularity of high-definition TVs
As a driver of industry development, high image quality plays a big part in product upgrading, and it drives industry players to pursue ever realistic visual performance with upgraded technologies. After receiving long market education, consumers have acquired some knowledge regarding picture quality such as high definition or color gamut. Comprehensive data of all channels from All View Cloud (AVC) indicates that in 2016, UHD televisions accounted for 48.3% of market share, HDR televisions made up of 14.3% and HCG televisions constituted 14.1%. In 2017, these three major segments will continue their growth and it is estimated that UHD televisions will take up to 55.6% of market share, HDR televisions 18.9% and HCG products 17.0%.
World-leading large screens
Bigger TV has become a trend. From the perspective of screen area, the total sales area of color TVs reached 31.53 million square meters in 2016, a year-on-year hike of 17.5%. In terms of screen size, 55 inch made the most popular dimension in 2016 with a year-on-year growth of 8.4 percentage points, making up 23.9% of market share. Televisions of this size saw the most significant increase in market share in 2016. And 55 inch also marks the boundary of large-screen TVs. It is predicted that the 55 inch television will continue this upward trend in 2017 and take up 27.8% of market share.
Establishment of home Internet
Rapid expansion of 4G network and smart phones accelerates the transition from PC to mobile Internet. In 2016, the market penetration of smart TVs reached a world-leading figure of 83%. By offering rich contents, smart TVs pull viewers back to the sitting room. Data from All View Cloud (AVC) shows that as of December 2016, daily average operating hours of smart TVs register 6.01 hours, almost two hours longer than that of traditional TVs. Furthermore, as smart TVs continue to upgrade, the value of a television is shifting from its hardware to the contents it offer, and diverse application scenarios have enlarged the developmental space for an economy based in the sitting room.
Television replacement in Chinese market is picking up. Data forecast from All View Cloud (AVC) suggests that Chinese television retail market is expected to reach a sales volume of 53.01 million units in year 2017, a year-on-year growth of 4.2%, while retail value is expected to ascend to 164 billion Yuan, a year-on-year rise of 5.1%. Chinese market is expected to play a bigger role globally as its scale expands. This is set to attract a bigger talent pool, and create a Chinese power that excels in both quantity and quality.