Samsung, LG lead global TV market in 2nd quarter

SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- Two South Korean TV makers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- dominated the world TV market in the second quarter of the year on the back of rising demand for premium TVs, a report showed Monday. According to the report by U.S.-based market research firm DisplaySearch, Samsung was the global brand leader with a share of 22.6 percent in terms of value of the units sold and a share of 18.7 percent by the number of units sold. LG came in second, accounting for 14.4 percent in sales revenue and 13.9 percent in units. Japanese firms trailed the two Korean electronics giants. Sony Corp. came in third with a revenue share of 11.7 percent and a unit share of 10.1 percent, followed by Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp, according to the research firm. DisplaySearch said that the global market for flat TVs, which includes liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma display panel (PDP) sets, saw 5-percent on-year growth in second quarter sales with 48.7 million units underpinned by brisk sales of new three-dimensional (3D) TVs. The global market for 3D TVs expanded 136 percent on-quarter to 4.91 million sets from 2.08 million units in the first quarter. 3D TVs accounted for more than 10 percent of the flat TV market, according to DisplaySearch. Samsung topped the global 3D TV market with a share of 34.4 percent, followed by Sony with 17.5 percent and LG with 12.4 percent, said the research firm. Samsung also maintained its lead in the premium light emitting diode (LED) TV market with a market share of 19.9 percent. LG was second with a share of 11.6 percent, surpassing Sharp, which fell to fourth behind Sony. LED TV's market share in the flat TV market increased to more than 40 percent in the second quarter with 19.16 million units sold. The share is expected to surpass the 50-percent level in the near future. "The world 3D TV market is rapidly growing," said a market expert. "The market appears to have been reorganized into a Korea-Japan competition."