Some 63% of TV shipments in Western Europe were for 4K resolution sets in the fourth quarter of 2018, more than in any other market according to IHS Markit stats.
Presenting an Ultra HD TV market update at MIPTV in Cannes, IHS Markit’s Research and Analysis Director for TV, Consumer Electronics and Devices, Paul Gray, said that more than half of TVs shipped globally in Q4 2018 were 4K.
In both North America and China, 4K TV sets’ share of shipments stood at 60% in Q4 2018. In Eastern Europe it was 48%, in Japan 47%, in Latin America 39%, in the Middle East and Africa 25% and in Asia Pacific 22%.
“Europe is seeing the demise of secondary sets and concentrating on one large set. Secondary usage in Europe is shifting to tablets and smartphones,” Gray commented, explaining that in North America there are lots of 32-inch secondary TV sets, bringing down 4K’s overall share of shipments.
The research noted that average screen sizes in Western Europe are “closing rapidly on North America and China,” despite different home sizes. In Q4 2018 average screen size shipments in Western Europe were 45.8 inches, compared to 47.2 inches in North America and 48.5 inches in China.
Looking ahead, IHS tipped North America to maintain its lead as the market with the highest share of households that have at least one UHD TV. This is expected to climb from 25% in 2018 to 58% in 2022.
In Western Europe, 17% of homes were estimated to have had at least one UHD TV in 2018 with this figure expected to reach 40% in 2022. In China the proportion is expected to climb from 17% to 38% over the same period.
On the Ultra HD channel front, IHS found there to be 142 UHD channels globally as of Q1 2019 – 130 commercial networks, nine demo channels and three shopping networks. By region, Western Europe was ahead with 46 unique linear UHD channels, compared to 28 in Eastern Europe, 20 in North America and 19 in Japan.
In terms of 8K uptake, the research firm estimates that 18,600 TVs that were 8K-capable shipped in 2018 and predicted that China will dominate 8K shipments in the coming years, due in part to local panel manufacture and fierce brand competition.
