Global sales of Ultra HD TVs accelerated again in the third quarter of 2014 and holiday sales could mark a new milestone. Samsung leads the Ultra HD market, but LG is catching up, according to data from DisplaySearch.

Two Chinese manufacturers in top-5
TV manufacturers have seen disappointing sales growth in the US and Europe since 2011, whereas China has exploded. Most buyers in established markets have been holding on to their TV sets bought in 2008 or 2009, but the same consumers are now slowly returning to the market.

Holiday sales could mark a new milestone and reverse the trend, driven by Ultra HD. Research firm DisplaySearch says that many consumers are looking to replace existing TVs with bigger TVs with Ultra HD resolution.

DisplaySearch’s data reveal that in the third quarter of 2014 TV sales increased by 4% (in units year-over-year) and that sales of LCD TVs increased by 9%. This is a clear improvement over the first half of 2014, where sales rose just 1%.

In Q3 2014 around 3 million Ultra HD TVs were sold worldwide, bringing total sales for 2014 up to 6.4 million. It is expected that the market will race past the 10 million milestone in Q4. Last year, a total of 1.6 million Ultra HD TVs were sold and total TV sales came in at around 250 million per year.

Samsung is leading the pack with almost a third of Ultra HD TV sales (in revenue). LG is second and in the top-5 you also see two Chinese TV manufacturers who have benefitted from a booming home market.


- Source: DisplaySearch