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Samsung, LG on notice as Chinese players start churning out Mini LEDs

Published: 25 Jun. 2025, 16:03 Updated: 25 Jun. 2025, 19:18

Chinese multinational home appliance and electronics maker Hisense's booth is set up at CES 2025 in Las Vegas in January. [YONHAP]

Chinese TV brands are rapidly reshaping the global premium television market, challenging Korea’s longstanding dominance.

Though Samsung Electronics retained the top spot in global premium TV shipments in the first quarter of 2025, its market share fell by 11 percentage points year-over-year. LG Electronics, which claimed second place in 2024, slid to fourth.

Samsung accounted for 28 percent of global premium TV shipments in the first quarter, down from 39 percent a year earlier, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research on June 18. LG’s share dropped from 23 percent to 16 percent over the same period.

Combined, the two Korean tech giants held 44 percent of the market, compared with 62 percent a year earlier.

“For the first time in decades, Samsung faces a legitimate threat of losing leadership of the TV market,” Counterpoint Research warned.

The premium TV category includes organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and quantum dot light-emitting diode screens, as well as 8K liquid crystal displays (LCD) and MicroLEDs.

Hisense and TCL, two Chinese electronics companies previously known for budget TVs, are rapidly gaining ground.

Over the past year, both brands have increased their market shares by 6 percentage points each, surpassing LG and closing in on Samsung.

Hisense claimed 20 percent of the market, narrowing its gap with Samsung from 25 percentage points to just 8. TCL followed closely with 19 percentage points.

Once focused on lower-priced models, both firms are now aggressively targeting large-screen and premium segments. They have achieved triple-digit year-over-year shipment growth by expanding both their domestic sales and international reach.

Counterpoint Research attributed their momentum to an aggressive push in Mini LED TVs, particularly large-screen models.

"While LG and Samsung focused their efforts on OLED TVs, the Chinese brands were [...] aggressively promoting large-screen Mini LED LCD models," said Research Director Bob O'Brien.

"Because of the cost difference between OLED and LCD TV panels, consumers face a choice between a smaller OLED TV or a larger Mini LED TV. An increasing number of consumers are choosing Mini LEDs," he added.

China’s domestic demand also saw a boost from the government’s “Old-for-New” trade-in initiative launched last year, which encourages consumers to replace older products with new ones.

Visitors at Samsung Electronics' VD Tech Seminar in Sao Paulo, Brazil, open from June 24 to 25, look at Samsung’s OLED displays. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Despite the shift in shipment volumes, Samsung and LG still lead the market in revenue. Since premium TVs are often defined by price rather than specs, rankings vary depending on whether they are measured by units or sales.

“The definition of premium TV usually follows pricing standards, so market share figures can differ depending on the criteria,” said an industry insider.

Samsung and LG are now doubling down on ultrapremium technology to defend their market positions. At its 2025 VD Tech Seminar in São Paulo, Brazil, Samsung unveiled its glare-free OLED 2.0 TV and showcased its “real quantum dot” display technology. The company also promoted its content platform Samsung TV Plus.

LG is targeting the high-end segment with its OLED lineup, which features wireless AV transmission solutions capable of delivering up to 4K 144Hz lossless video.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY PARK HAE-LEE [[email protected]]