Samsung tops US 4K set sales
December 3, 2015
Findings from Parks Associates indicate that by mid-2015, more Samsung 4K TV sets were sold in the US than any other brand. Samsung accounted for 28 per cent of 4K TV purchases made within the last 12 months to US broadband households. Best Buy was the leading retailer, capturing more than 40 per cent of 4K TV purchases. Of the remaining brands, 17 per cent of consumers who purchased a 4K TV in the past 12 months bought an LG, 13 per cent bought a Sony, and 11 per cent purchased a Vizio.
“For both flat-panel purchasers and the subgroup of 4K TV purchasers, 44 per cent made the purchase after seeing the product for a good price, so the major purchase motivator for flat-panel and 4K TVs was not substantially different,” said Barbara Kraus, Director, Research, Parks Associates. “However, 11 per cent of 4K TV purchasers were motivated to buy after learning about the TV’s features, compared to 3 per cent of flat-panel TV purchasers.”
The Market for 4K TVs reports that 19 per cent of US broadband households intend to purchase a flat-panel TV set by the end of 2015. Roughly 40 per cent of those households are looking for a 4K TV set, which is approximately 7.5 per cent of US broadband households, while 42 per cent of US broadband households indicate they are not familiar with 4K technology. Parks Associates reports 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—56 per cent of US broadband households planning to buy a flat panel in the next 12 months consider smart capabilities to be important, versus 39 per cent who value 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.”