Samsung leads U.S. 4K TV market

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015
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Samsung and Best Buy are the leading companies for purchases of 4K TV sets

  • Nearly 8% of U.S. broadband households will buy a 4K TV in 2015

Brand Purchased among 4K TV Buyers - U.S. Broadband Households that bought a 4K TV in past 12 months - Samsung, Vizio, LG Electronics, Sony Corporation, Others

Parks Associates research finds that by mid-2015, more Samsung 4K TV sets were sold than any other brand. Samsung accounted for 28% of 4K TV purchases made within the last 12 months to U.S. broadband households. Best Buy was the leading retailer, capturing more than 40% of 4K TV purchases. Of the remaining brands, 17% of consumers who purchased a 4K TV in the past 12 months bought an LG, 13% bought a Sony, and 11% purchased a Vizio.

“For both flat-panel purchasers and the subgroup of 4K TV purchasers, 44% 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% of 4K TV purchasers were motivated to buy after learning about the TV’s features, compared to 3% of flat-panel TV purchasers.”

The Market for 4K TVs reports that 19% of U.S. broadband households intend to purchase a flat-panel TV set by the end of 2015. Roughly 40% of those households are looking for a 4K TV set, which is approximately 7.5% of U.S. broadband households, while 42% of U.S. 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% of U.S. broadband households planning to buy a flat panel in the next 12 months consider smart capabilities to be important, versus 39% 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.”