Entertainment

Cheap TVS No Longer Fancied in UK Market

by Luke Wildman in 31.08.2010 01:44

The television market is witnessing serious fight for higher market share by all the major TV manufacturers. The television market continues to grow at a good pace but the scenario is undergoing a revolutionary change. Cheap TVs are giving way to costly LCD and plasma models. Further, according to one survey data, the online TV market in the United Kingdom is expected to be worth about ₤181 million by the year 2011. More and more persons are turning towards viewing their favourite TV programmes and shows in online processes. This is affecting the cheap TVs market severely.

Change to Online TV Watching a Real Threat

Television broadcasters and cable TV operators are likely to face higher competition from online video providers like YouTube and Joost. This will cut into the sales of traditional televisions due to the increase in computer-based TV viewing. Hardware manufacturers like Sony, Apple and Toshiba will claim higher market share with their computer monitor sales. Cheap TVs will become outdated and obsolete in a decade or two. Online watching will become the norm. In spite of the above threat, the online TV market growth will not be as rapid as the online music market. The downloading of movies and other TV programmes is not as easy as music downloads. Hence, for the next decade or two, cheap TVs will still dominate the purchase preferences of UK consumers.

UK Cheap TVs Market Share

Samsung had been leading the television sales in the United Kingdom for the last 2 years. Latest Gfk data release show that Samsung is having a market share of 23.8% in 2008, compared to a meagre 0.7% in the year 2000. Surprisingly, Toshiba had moved up to the second place, pushing Sony to the third position. The acquisition of all the shares of Panasonic by Toshiba in its joint venture with Panasonic for production of LCD and OLED TVs might help Toshiba further.

Still, the share of Toshiba is less than a fourth of Samsung and it will not be easy for Toshiba or Sony to catch up with Samsung. The reason for the high market share by Samsung is quite simple. The company is offering cheap TVs in all categories. The different models in the CRT, LCD and plasma TV types at competitive prices had helped the company to reach this enviable position.

UK Multichannel TV Market Growth

The UK economy had been worsening in the past few years, restricting new subscription growth. However, the digital switchover and the presence of Freeview had been driving higher demand in the multichannel TV market. Providers of multichannel television had been adopting themselves for the change towards online viewing. In this context, cheap TVs are slowly giving way to high-definition TVs like LCD, OLED and plasma models, along with higher sales of computer monitors. This will definitely lead to fragmented markets. Multichannel TV providers will be forced to study and understand the viewing preferences and patterns of consumers and adjust themselves to drastic changes. This switchover to online TV viewing will slowly kill cheap TVs.

http://www.cheeptv.co.uk is your best source for present and future developments in the UK market. Get in touch with us for the latest UK TV news.

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