SEOUL, KOREA - Korean companies are maintaining a dominant presence in the global TV market but have difficulty in the TV panel market. Unlike the governments of China and Japan which extend strong support to their homegrown TV panel companies, the Korean government remains reluctant in doing so.
According to market research firm DisplaySearch on December 8, Korean companies had a market share of 46.2 percent in the global TV panel market for the period from January to September 2013, down 8 percentage points compared to 54.2 percent a year ago.
In contrast, the share of their rival countries marked a positive growth. The share of Taiwanese TV panel makers grew from 29.7 percent to 32.6 percent, while that of Chinese suppliers from 6.3 percent to 10.4 percent. The share of Japanese companies, which showed a downward trend over the past several years, turned up slightly, rising from 9.8 percent to 10.8 percent.
Despite the decrease in the use of Korean-made panels, the market share of Korean TV companies, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, remained almost unchanged at 42.3 percent, compared to 42.4 percent a year ago.