The USA will emerge as the leading market for 4K or Ultra HD TVs in terms of household penetration by 2020 followed by the leading Western European markets, Australia, South Korea and China. According to Strategy Analytics’ Connected Home Devices (CHD) report Ultra High Definition TV Displays: Global Market Forecast, demand for UHD TVs is soaring worldwide as entry level price points drop well below $1000, model availability expands and consumers seek out the next best technology as they upgrade their ageing flat panel TVs.
The report also found that shipments of 4K/UHD TVs grew 633 per cent in 2014 to reach 12.1 million units with Asia Pacific accounting for 75 per cent followed by North America (12 per cent) and Western Europe (11 per cent). Global shipments of Ultra HD TVs will more than double in 2015 to 27.5 million units and more than 100 million will be shipping annually by 2018.
Sixty per cent of all UHD TVs shipped globally in 2014 were 50-inch or larger in size, while a quarter of all 50-inch and larger TVs that shipped were UHD. Those UHD TVs under 50-inch will become more widely available in 2015 and the sub 50-inch category will account for the majority of Ultra HD TV shipments globally by the end of 2016.
“Ultra HD will become the standard resolution for virtually all large screen TVs within three to four years’ time and we will see it penetrate further into smaller screen sizes as manufacturing efficiencies improve,” said David Watkins, service director, connected home devices. “As we saw with the transition from SD to HD, it is the TV manufacturers who are leading the UHD charge although significant steps are being made on the delivery infrastructure and content production parts of the value chain. As the inevitable price competition eats into the ability of the TV vendors to make any meaningful profit from selling UHD TVs, many brands are adding support for wider colour gamuts and high dynamic range in order to differentiate their models and charge a premium over ‘standard’ ultra HD models.”
