UHD TV shipments to reach 14.5 million this year

Samsung UHD S9 Series Smart TV

Shipments of Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs are due to grow to 14.5 million units in 2014, up from 2.0 million last year, amid “aggressive marketing efforts” by global brands, according to IHS Technology.

The research firm said that UHD TVs continue to make “slow and steady inroads throughout the world,” but claimed that by the end of May their share of the overall flat-panel TV market remained “minimal.”

IHS said that the low penetration rate indicated that UHD TV pricing in the market “remains too high to gain meaningful share,”

Among the top 13 global liquid-crystal-display TV brands – which account for more than 75% of total LCD TV shipments – the share of UHD TV shipments reached 5% in May.

This was up from 4% in April, 3% in March and 2% in February. However, IHS said that growth “hasn’t budged much since September last year when the market was already at the 2% level.”

“Growth in this year’s global UHD TV market is a reflection of plans among TV makers, especially the Chinese, to increase sales. Expansion in UHD TV volume is mostly scheduled for the second half this year,” said Jusy Hong, IHS Technology principal analyst for consumer devices.

“In China, for instance, the share of UHD TVs continues to stay below 10% despite vigorous promotion by brands because high UHD TV pricing acts as a barrier for wider acceptance.”

Flat-panel televisions overall amounted to 18.1 million units in May, down 6.4% from April but up 7% from the same time a year ago. Of the total, LCD TVs—including UHD sets—accounted for 17.4 million units.