Samsung is selling more than double the amount of 4K ultra High Definition (UHD) TV’s than their arch rival LG who are struggling to convince consumers that OLED is the future for big picture TV viewing, according to new Parks Associates research.
In big markets like the USA Samsung has snared 28% of the 4K TV market while LG has only managed to capture 13% despite heavy marketing for their OLED UED TV’s.
Price and not OLED picture quality appear to be a key factor.
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“For both flat-panel purchasers and the sub-group of 4KTV purchasers, 44% made the purchase after seeing the product for a good price, so the major purchase motivator for flat-panel and 4KTVs was not substantially different,” said Barbara Kraus, director of research, Parks Associates.
“However, 11% of US 4KTV purchasers were motivated to buy after learning about the TV’s features, compared to 3% of flat-panel TV purchasers.”
Parks reported that 19% of broadband households intend to purchase a flat-panel TV set by the end of 2015.
Roughly 40% of those households are looking for a 4K TV set, which is approximately 7.5% of broadband households, while 42% of broadband households indicate they are not familiar with 4K technology.
Parks Associates reported that low familiarity, low willingness to pay premium prices, content concerns and a cooling market for flat panels in general all present challenges to 4K.
“More consumers value other attributes, including smart TV capability, built-in Wi-Fi and high resolution audio, over 4K picture quality,” Kraus said.
“Content availability remains a key inhibitor to 4K adoption. We expect to see lower cost 4K TV technologies presented at CES 2016, along with 4K Blu-ray players and media, as well as OLED and high dynamic range (HDR), to drive new growth in this market.”
Parks also discovered that a full 56% of broadband households planning to buy a flat panel in the next 12 months consider smart capabilities to be important, versus 39% who value 4K picture quality.
