Although global TV shipments hit a five-year high, the outlook for the second half of the year is still not optimistic

According to a report released by TrendForce, global TV shipments increased by 10% year-on-year to 98.45 million units in the first half of 2021. Although the final shipments were 5.8% lower than originally expected, this performance still set a five-year high.

Regarding the reasons for the growth in global TV shipments in the first half of the year, Jie Meijuan, deputy general manager of the consumer electronics division of AVC, said in an interview with a reporter from China Electronics News that this was mainly due to two aspects: On the one hand, as vaccination rates increased, developed countries pushed forward the process of unblocking, and economic recovery drove consumption. On the other hand, due to the pull of sports events, the mode of watching games without spectators on site came into everyone's sight for the first time, driving the growth of demand for watching games at home.

Although the shipment volume of 98.45 million sets hit a record high in the past five years, the final shipment volume was still 5.8% lower than originally expected. In this regard, Jie Meijuan pointed out: "The rapid increase in panel prices has doubled the cost and operating pressure of the whole machine manufacturers. Companies focus on operating profits rather than market size, resulting in lower-than-expected shipments."

TrendForce has again lowered its forecast for TV shipments this year to 215 million units, a 0.9% decrease from the previous year. The reason for this adjustment is that the sharp rise in panel prices in the first half of the year has led to an increase in the cost of the entire TV, and it is unlikely that the previous promotional prices will be seen in the second half of the year; second, although the third quarter will enter the peak stocking season for traditional promotions, concerns about the "busy season" are growing.

Yang Yisheng, senior analyst at GfK's black electronics division, told China Electronics News that from a retail perspective, as the global epidemic is gradually lifted and TV prices hit a record high this year, terminal demand has begun to slow down significantly in Q2. Terminal retail sales will decline significantly in the second half of the year because the base last year was very high. "Manufacturers will have some inventory, but they are expected to strictly control inventory because panels have entered a price reduction cycle. The later you purchase, the cheaper the panels will be."

Jie Meijuan said that the market is expected to experience negative growth in the second half of 2021, with an estimated shipment volume of 122 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 10.5%, and an estimated shipment volume of 221 million units for the whole year of 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 3.5%. The reason for this prediction is that the high base and overdraft of demand caused by consumption stimulus in overseas developed markets last year are gradually emerging in the second half of this year. The Chinese market will gradually pick up, but it is still difficult to reverse the overall downward trend.