Samsung’s been the top dog in the TV world for twenty years straight, but could that run soon end?
It’s emerged from new sales data this week that Samsung’s market share in the TV market is shrinking. According to research firm Counterpoint, Samsung’s shipments fell by 3% year-on-year, it’s market share down from 18% to 17%; while TCL’s share of the market and sales have soared in recent years.
This unsurprisingly coincides with Samsung referring more and more to TCL in its briefings and tech showcases as the gap reduces. Should Samsung be worried about TCL, and to a lesser extent, Hisense? Yes, but the electronics giant shouldn’t forget why its at the top of the roost either.
Is Samsung’s TV reign about to end?
In short, no, I don’t think so.
The TV industry is not having its best moment, many of the brands associated with TVs are struggling at the moment. Panasonic is potentially looking at selling its TV operation; Sony has set the wheels turning on a partnership with TCL for its future TVs; Philips has struggled to increase its market share; while the likes of Toshiba, Sharp and JVC, which used to be known as the big players in the TV market, have retreated to the budget arena.
It’s a struggle to make money from TVs these days.
In part, that’s down to several reasons, but perhaps the most significant is that customers tend to purchase less expensive TVs where the profit margin is small (if non-existent), not helped by the likes of TCL and Hisense driving prices down and undercutting their rivals to gain market share.
TV brands have looked to the premium market to boost their coffers and make more money. The introduction of OLED was one of the first attempts, followed by Mini LED. OLED has so far resisted falling too much in price and remains a premium option, and likely is the reason why Samsung – who resisted selling OLED TVs for decade – jumped into the market with its own panel.
The prices of Mini LEDs has fallen, largely driven by TCL and Hisense, affecting the value of these TVs in the minds of consumers. While Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony arguably produce Mini LEDs of better quality, they’re often more expensive than TCL and Hisense models, and the amount of value these TVs offer is virtually off the chart. The price is very much right if you’re TCL and Hisense at the moment.
Sitting on its throne, which it has done for the last twenty years, Samsung is certainly feeling the heat. I predicted almost a year ago that 2025 was going to see Hisense, TCL and Samsung duke it out, and it wasn’t a particularly hard one to make. Samsung is beginning to play defence rather than offence, and while I don’t think Samsung’s reign is going to end, 2027 might be a different landscape.
Samsung needs to remember what it does best
Samsung are one of the most innovative companies around. Everything they try may not always work out, but unlike Hiense and TCL – two companies that I find imitate rather than innovate – Samsung is focused on creating new experiences.
It has arguably come a little stuck in recent years. It was too soon for 8K and Samsung pushed it too hard, too fast. While it’s had great success with its lifestyle TVs, others are countering with their own models. Not all these models have worked either – The Sero was a TV for vertical video generation that didn’t take off because it was too expensive.
In a nutshell, Samsung’s TVs are looking a bit too pricey, and the sales data reflects that there are viable, meaningful alternatives when it comes to price and value.
It was only a few years ago that Samsung could be seen as the king of budget TVs. The quality, feature-set and value they offered would smack other models out of the sea. The focus on premium sets has meant vacating the budget arena. Samsung’s current Crystal UHD TVs aren’t a patch on the older models in terms of value, especially when compared to Hisense and TCL.
Sony has seen where the market is trending, and its tie-up with TCL should (hopefully) see it able to deliver TVs that are more cost-effective to make, and bolster its presence in a market where its share had waned considerably.
Samsung is still holding onto its crown, but it’s always a different perspective when you’re in front and the pack behind are chasing.
Samsung is having an Arsenal-like wobble. While its 130-inch RGB TV is technically amazing, it’s not going to sell many of them. Samsung needs to remember what its bread and butter models are, it needs to fight on the same terms as Hisense and TCL. If it can do that, it could turn the screw on its rivals by putting a stop to its surge.
But make no doubt about it, Samsung is feeling the heat. The gloves look like they’ll be coming off in 2026 and Samsung needs to fight TCL and Hisense in the air, on the land and in the sea. Samsung says it makes TVs for everyone; it really needs to embrace those words, especially when it comes to its less expensive options.
