Samsung and Vizio accounted for the majority of flat-panel TV (FPTV) shipments in 4Q 2013 as major vendors concentrated on Smart TV features as a means of differentiating their products from those of competitors, according to new market research from Strategy Analytics.
“We are witnessing a precipitous drop in the price delta for Smart TVs compared to their traditional counterparts, reflecting the expectation of major TV vendors that they will make more money down the road from content partnerships rather than upfront on higher hardware costs,” commented Strategy Analytics’ director of Connected Home Devices David Watkins.
“Though it remains to be seen how quickly this scenario will materialize, the immediate need for Over-the-Top content on Ultra HD TVs may be a catalyst.”
Key findings in Strategy Analytics, “United States Smart TV Market Share Report Q4 2013” include:
- Samsung was the clear market leader with 29.6% market share
- Vizio has made a strong push to challenge Samsung’s dominance, gaining nearly 2 percent market share year-on-year
- Sony holds only an 8.0 percent share in the overall FPTV market but its Smart TV market share is nearly double that at 17.6 percent
Looking ahead, “We expect that Smart TVs will comprise more than half of all FPTV shipments in the U.S. in 2014, but the Smart TV market will continue to be dominated by a handful of vendors at the top. Vendors competing solely on price will be slow to embrace Smart TV,” analyst Eric Smith added.
