TV screens get bigger on growing demand

Samsung Electronics Co.’s 77-Inch OLED TV [Courtesy of Samsung Electronics]

Consumers are replacing TVs at a faster pace than before despite the economic downturn and demand is growing for larger screens, a report showed Monday.

According to a report by global technology industry tracker Omdia, the replacement cycle for TV displays has been reduced to four to five years from the previous six to seven years.

The trend is believed to come on a rise in demand for TV replacements based on the panel size as consumers opt for larger screens.

Samsung Electronics Co. has seen one out of three quantum light-emitting diodes (QLED) and Neo QLED TV models sold in Korea with a screen size of 85 inch or larger between January and July.

By size, 85-inch TVs accounted for 30 percent of Samsung Electronics’ TV sales in Korea by unit, up 1.8 times compared to the previous year. The share of 75-inch TVs remained the same at 32 percent.

The share of 65-inch TVs, on the other hand, fell to 22 percent this year from 27 percent last year, and TVs below 50 inches dropped to 3 percent from 12 percent.

The average size of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV panels, which was 58.8 inches last year, is expected to surpass 60 inches for the first time this year, reaching 60.2 inches, according to Omdia.

The shipments of OLED TV panels sized 70 inches or larger is projected to grow by an annual average of 20 percent to around 1.7 million units in 2026 from about 710,000 units in 2022.

The overall OLED TV panel shipments are projected to grow to 10 million units annually from 7.4 million units over the same period, with an average growth rate of 6 percent.

The share of panels sized 70 inches or larger in the entire OLED TV panel shipments is expected to steadily grow from 9.6 percent in 2022 to 14.8 percent this year, 15.1 percent next year, 15.9 percent in 2025, and 17.3 percent in 2026.

The trend of preferring larger TVs is also affecting liquid crystal display (LCD) TV panels.

Omdia data shows that the average size of LCD TV displays in May was 50.2 inches, surpassing 50 inches for the first time.

David Hsieh, head of the displays team at Omdia, said that consumers believe they should buy larger TVs and they won’t go back to smaller sizes.