Global TV market to shrink 12 pct this year: Samsung exec

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- The global TV market is likely to contract about 12
percent this year from a year ago due to stiff competition and the global
economic slump, an executive of Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday,
"The market size will likely decline to US$97.5 billion this year from $111.3
billion last year," Yoon Boo-keun, head of Samsung's TV division, said in a
meeting with female business leaders in Seoul.
Yoon ascribed the expected contraction mainly to a tumble in prices for liquid
crystal display (LCD) TVs stemming from an increasingly crowded market.
"LCD TV prices have dropped 30 percent annually since 2006 due to fierce
competition and lowered technology barriers," he said. "But the downturn is
expected to slow gradually, starting next year."
Samsung Electronics is the world's largest flat-screen TV maker.
Yoon said Samsung has been able to emerge as the world's leading TV manufacturer
thanks to the introduction of new products such as light emitting diode (LED) TV.
"Our LED TV has become a megahit in the United States since it was put on the
American market," he said. "Our weekly market share once topped the 40-percent
mark for the first time in industry history."
LED TVs are lighter and more power efficient than LCD TVs, which are more widely
available and less costly.
Yoon said the efficient management of transporting goods was another major
contributor. "Our supply chain management system played a huge role in Samsung
TV's success in the world," he said.
Currently, Samsung delivers its products anywhere in the world four weeks after a
new model is launched, compared with 16 weeks in the past, Yoon said.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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