4KTV prices plunge, spurring uptake


Details

Michelle Clancy

| 11 December 2015




4KTV household penetration in the United States will reach 34% in 2019, according to the latest information from the IHS TV Sets Intelligence Service.


The HIS survey showed that 4KTV set prices have fallen significantly, leading to increasing consumer adoption and household penetration. By the end of 2017, most 50”-plus TVs worldwide will feature 4K resolution, according to the firm.

With its comparatively strong economy and consumer penchant for large-screen TVs, the US will lead the way. But 4KTV household penetration in the European Union is expected to reach a healthy 25% in 2019. As outliers, Switzerland is expected to reach 32% penetration in 2019, followed closely by the United Kingdom at 31%.

Growing availability of Ultra HD content from Internet and pay-TV providers will likely support this trend.

While Japan is a developed premium TV market, only 14% of all households are expected to have a 4K TV in 2019, because most households already have relatively new TVs. Domestic TV demand swelled to more than twice its normal level between 2009 and 2011, when the Japanese Government ran an eco-points subsidy programme for energy-efficient products and there was a nationwide analogue TV switch-off.

“With the Japanese consumer preference for smaller TV screens, it will be more difficult for 4K TV to expand its household penetration in the country, even though UHD broadcasts are set to begin in 2018, in the run up to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020,” said Hisakazu Torii, senior director of consumer device research for IHS.

Unlike Japan consumer adoption of 4K TVs in China is expected to be relatively high, with household penetration reaching 24% in 2019. In other emerging countries, where many households either have smaller LCD TVs or CRT TVs, 4K penetration will be lower: 11% in Russia, 8% in Brazil and 2% in India.

Meanwhile, research recently revealed that by mid-2015, more Samsung 4KTV sets were sold than any other brand. Parks Associates found that the Korean CE giant accounted for 28% of 4KTV purchases made within the last 12 months to US broadband households. Of the remaining brands, 17% of consumers who purchased a 4KTV in the past year bought an LG, 13% bought a Sony, and 11% purchased a Vizio.