Korean media: Overwhelming advantage is a thing of the past, China's strong rise, Korean TV is in peril!
On September 11, the Korean media "Herald Economy" published an article stating that Korean TV manufacturers once dominated globally, but their position is now being shaken under the fierce pursuit of Chinese companies.
Amid the global economic slowdown leading to low demand for televisions, Chinese companies have captured the market with low-price strategies, causing sharp declines in the performance of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
According to industry insiders, the operating profits of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in the second quarter were halved, declining by 55% and 47% respectively compared to the same period last year.
For Samsung Electronics, the poor performance of the Device Solutions (DS) division responsible for semiconductor business is the main reason, but the television business has also seen a decline. Although other departments performed strongly, the losses in the Mobile Communications (MS) department, which includes the television business, are one of the reasons for the overall decline in the company's performance.
The Visual Display (VD) department of Samsung Electronics, responsible for the television business, saw its sales drop to 70 billion won in the second quarter, down 7% from 75 billion won in the same period last year. The decrease was more significant compared to the previous quarter's 78 billion won, at 10%.
The Media Entertainment (MS) department of LG Electronics, which includes televisions, reported an operating loss of 191.7 billion won in the second quarter, turning from an operating profit of 126.8 billion won in the same period last year.
While domestic Korean companies are not performing well, the market share of Chinese companies is rapidly expanding.
According to data from market research company Omdia, Samsung Electronics had held the top position in global shipment market share for 19 consecutive years since 2006, but has recently shown a downward trend.
Samsung Electronics' market share fell from 21.9% in 2020 to 19.8% in 2021, 19.6% in 2022, 18.6% in 2023, and 17.6% in 2024.
LG Electronics ranked second with a market share of 11.5% in 2020, but by 2024, its market share will fall to 10.8%, dropping to fourth place, behind Chinese companies.
During this period, the market shares of Chinese companies TCL and Hisense increased from 10.7% and 8.1% to 13.9% and 12.3%, respectively.
In this context, Korean companies plan to focus on high-end television areas where they have technological advantages, such as OLED and Neo QLED, rather than LCDs where Chinese companies dominate, in order to strengthen their market leadership.
Chinese companies' strategy is to take control of the entire supply chain market starting from LCD panels, while South Korea seeks differentiation based on its current leading areas.
Additionally, plans include expanding AI applications and strengthening platform competitiveness to improve user experience.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1842967830387976/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.