South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. continues to reign supreme in the world television market as it retains its top spot for 48 straight quarters, thanks largely to its shift toward larger, higher definition products with expensive price tags.
 
A report released by IHS Markit, a global IT data provider, on Wednesday showed that the Korean tech behemoth claimed a 29 percent share in the global TV market in the first half of 2018, comfortably beating out its home rival LG Electronics Inc. at 17.5 percent and Japan’s Sony at 9.7 percent. China’s Hisense Co. and TCL Corp. rounded out the top five with market shares of 5.7 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.
 
Samsung Electronics extended its winning streak for the 48th straight quarter by capturing a 29.6 percent market share in the April-June period, its highest since the fourth quarter of 2014.
 
The company’s market share in terms of shipments stopped at 19.1 percent in the first six months but reached a 29 percent by sales thanks to the brisk performance of its premium products.
 
Its market share in the premium segment - that is for TVs that cost more than $2,500 - stood at 43.8 percent over the same period and neared 58 percent in the ultra-large TV segment of over 75 inches in size.
 
Its standing in North America, widely considered the TV market barometer, was 54.2 percent.
 
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics together secured nearly half of the world’s TV market, with a combined share of 46.5 percent in the first half, up from 41.1 percent in 2017 and 41.6 percent in 2016.
 
Data showed that worldwide TV shipments totaled 99,044,000 units in the first half, up 7.9 percent from the same period last year. TV sales appear to have jumped against the backdrop of major sporting events throughout this year, including the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Russia World Cup and the Asian Games, which are currently taking place in Indonesia.