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South Korean giants Samsung and LG have long been the two biggest TV manufacturers in the world, in that order. But the latter’s position in the market is in threat this year, research firm Omdia reports (via The Elec). TCL, which has been one of the fastest-growing TV brands in recent years, may leapfrog LG into the second spot in 2022.
According to the new report, TCL is aiming to secure 36.5 million TV panels this year. LG, on the other hand, is planning to secure around 34.3 million panels. These numbers respectively mark an increase of 12.7 percent (from 32.4 million) and 4 four percent (from 33 million) from last year.
Of course, not all of the secured panels will translate to final sales. But if the sales are in proportion to the number of panels secured, TCL should marginally beat LG in the number of TVs sold this year. That said, the Chinese brand converted only around 75 percent (24.57 million) of the TV panels secured last year into sales. By contrast, LG’s conversion rate in 2021 came in at almost 83 percent (27.33 million). So the South Korean biggie may still fend off TCL this year. But it’d be a close battle either way.
TCL is coming at LG fast in the TV market
This had been coming for a few years now. In January this year, TCL announced that it sells over ten million TVs with Android TV and Google TV every year. The company has enjoyed even greater success with its Roku TV lineup. This overwhelming growth means the Chinese brand is now on the brink of overthrowing LG as the second-largest TV manufacturer globally.
The TV shipment gap between LG and TCL has come down from 6.84 million units in 2019 to 2.76 million units in 2021. During this time, the former has hardly seen any growth. The Chinese brand, on the other hand, has consistently grown its market share. At this growth rate, TCL could very well overtake LG in the TV market in 2023 if not in 2022.
Samsung, meanwhile, sits comfortably at the top. The company sold 42.23 million TVs last year, which is about 88.4 percent of the 47.9 million panels secured. This year, it plans to secure 55.6 million units, up 13.8 percent. Going by these numbers, Samsung’s TV shipments in 2022 could fall just short of 50 million units. Time will tell whether TCL can someday challenge Samsung as well. Fierce competition between two companies usually plays out nicely for consumers. So we are up for it.