8K TVs account for just 0.2% of all TV shipments and sales will remain slow for at least another five years, according to analyst firm Omdia.

Slow 8K TV sales
At an annual industry conference in Malaga – perhaps aptly named 4KHDR Summit – Senior Research Director for Media and Entertainment at Omdia (née IHS Markit) María Rua Aguete shared the latest figures on 8K TV sales and forecasts.

- "8K will grow very slowly, even slower than we thought last year. Even in Japan, the only country that has launched an 8K channel, there is no clear commercial lineup," María Rua Aguete said during her keynote, according to Advanced-Television.

Omdia expects only 9 million households worldwide to own an 8K TV by 2025. Annual shipments of 8K TVs are projected to reach just 1.5 million by 2025.

- "We do not believe that 8K will be a ‘home format’ but will be a performance format and not one enjoyed by viewers at home, at least for the next five years. 8K shipments accounted for just 0.2 per cent of all TV shipments," she said.


 Samsung launched its first 8K TVs at IFA in September 2018

Sales of 8K TVs even fell to 90,600 units in the second quarter of 2021 compared to 96,000 units in the first quarter. Samsung has a 70% marketshare in 8K TVs.

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There is still a dearth of 8K content. YouTube offers a selection of videos in 8K resolution and The Explorers app just added its first 8K HDR content on 8K Roku TVs but the leading subscription streaming services have yet to announce plans for 8K.

Instead, buyers of high-end TVs remain focused on 4K HDR TVs and in particular OLED TVs. The OLED TV market is expected to grow 80% to 6.5 million units in 2021 and expand further next year as Samsung launches its first QD-OLED TVs.

- Source: 4K Summit via Advanced-Television