In 2006, Samsung snatched first place in the TV market from Sony, and has held on ever since. The giant has held the top spot for 19 years, but Chinese competition has been intensifying for some time now. Samsung's market share fell by 2 points between 2022 (19.6%) and 2024 (17.6%). Meanwhile, TCL and Hisense accelerated, reaching 13.9% and 12.3% respectively.
The Chinese offensive is hurting Samsung
This growth is worrying the management of Samsung's Visual Display (VD) division, which is also taking a dim view of rising LCD panel prices—LCD TVs still account for 90% of the market. The average price of a 65-inch panel rose from $173 in December 2024 to $178 in May 2025, according to figures from Omdia.
A difference of $5 that ends up weighing heavily on the company's accounts: last year, it spent the equivalent of $5.45 billion to purchase LCD panels, the highest level in three years. This partly explains the 43% drop in the combined profit of the VD and home appliance divisions in the first quarter.
According to the Korean press reported by DigiTimes, Samsung VD is now in a "state of emergency," and a recovery plan has been implemented. This involves reducing costs by 20% by cutting back on meetings, events, office supplies, raw materials, marketing, and business travel. Samsung is also looking to focus its efforts on high-margin products, such as OLED TVs.
This is also the first time Samsung has implemented such emergency measures within the VD division. There was a similar plan in 2022, but within the Device Experience group, which brings together all of Samsung's consumer hardware businesses.
Source: DigiTimes
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