8K TV shipments to total more than 400K in 2019, IHS says

Despite 4K still growing and emerging as a viable TV format, 8K is already on its way to living rooms throughout the world.

According to IHS Markit, shipments of 8K televisions will total more than 430,000 in 2019, up from less than 20,000 this year. By 2020, the volume of 8K TVs shipped will near 2 million, and more than half of those will be 60-inch or larger models.

The increasing demand for 8K TVs is riding an overall increase for TVs. IHS said that after declining TV shipment volumes in 2017, global TV shipments are forecast to grow 3.6% this year and another 1.4% in 2019. Of the 226 million TVs expected to ship next year, more than half will be ultra-high-definition models, the majority of which are 4K.

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“Growth in the TV market typically is the result of more attractive retail prices for large-screen sizes and the continued commoditization of 4K resolution, driving TV replacements and upgrades,” said Paul Gagnon, research and analysis executive director at IHS Markit, in a statement. “However, this growth through price compression has a negative effect on profits, so TV brands are actively looking for more growth from advanced TV models to improve earnings.”

OLED TV is expected to ship 3.6 million units in 2019, up 40%. IHS said demand is essentially matching industry production capacity. Quantum dot LCD TV shipments are expected to total more than 4 million units in 2019.

“The high-end prices of non-QD-equipped LCD TV models and the prices of the low end QD-equipped LCD TV models have moved closer together,” Gagnon said. “This extension of the quantum dot LCD TV lineup into more moderate price ranges effectively reduces the quantum dot premium to less than 100% at mid-range sizes, opening up the category to a larger addressable market of consumers.”