What you need to know
The market for televisions saw some respite from the decline of recent years with growth in volume sales in 2018. This was driven by discounting and promotions ahead of the FIFA World Cup, alongside a general decline in the average prices of 4K Ultra HD televisions as price premiums are steadily being removed. The falling prices meant the gains in market revenue were modest and a decline is expected over the next five years. The emphasis for the market will be on driving 4K upgrades beyond the most technologically engaged and taking higher picture resolution mainstream.
Samsung continues to be the most owned brand of television, with the big four manufacturers strongly focused on increasingly large televisions, with minimal offerings below 40 inch screens. While consumers are showing continued appetite for higher quality pictures and larger screens, this trend cannot continue unabated with limited space in the home and diminishing returns in picture quality.
As people upgrade their main televisions, the lack of resale value of HD sets has seen many move previous televisions to other rooms. However, there remains difficulty in actually selling new smaller sets for additional rooms with so many people happy to rely on laptops, tablets and smartphones for viewing content elsewhere. The trend towards catch-up services, streaming platforms and online video has exacerbated this, although the main television is not under threat due to its expanded range of functions. The majority of TVs in the home now have smart functionality, while gaming and smart hub features continue to grow as main screen uses.
Products covered in this Report
This Report examines the UK market for televisions. ‘Televisions’ in this context refers to any independent device built explicitly with the purpose of receiving broadcast television signals. Personal computers plugged into an aerial, for example, are not included within this definition, and are not included in the market size estimates.
‘Smart’ televisions are those that have the ability to connect directly to the internet built into them, and come with customised software designed to facilitate this. TVs that are connected via other devices, like set-top-boxes or games consoles, are not defined as ‘smart’, even though these devices provide access to many of the same features that smart TVs have.
For the purposes of this Report, small-screen TVs are classified as those sized 31 inches and below, medium TVs are sized 32-45 inches and large-screen TVs refer to those sized 46 inches and above.
The terms 4K and Ultra HD are used interchangeably throughout this Report in reference to TVs that display a horizontal resolution of 4,000 pixels.
Discussion of the ‘main’ television set refers to the television consumers will spend most time with. Normally this is contained in the living room. ‘Secondary’ sets are generally referred to as TVs in kitchens, bedrooms or other rooms.
