Samsung, Sony dominate LFD market

Sales of large format displays (LFDs) through Western European distributors continued to grow with revenues up +20% year-on-year in Q2 2017, according to the latest data published by European IT market analysis company Context.
The key drivers of this significant increase have been 55-inch and 75-inch screens which saw year-on-year revenues grow by +36% and +90% respectively.
Volume-wise, sales of 75-inch LFDs increased by +104%, while those of 55-inch displays were up by +20%.
Samsung and Sony continue to be the biggest 75-inch LFD vendors; however, in Q2 2017, LG and Smart increased their presence in this segment with 4K displays.
The most popular screen sizes are still 55-inch and 65-inch, together accounting for 27% of unit sales, but it is worth noting that 10% of sales come from 32-inch flat panels.
“Although the display market has for years been focused on making screens ever larger, the reality is that with the growing popularity of new digital solutions in retail and corporate environments, there is a solid market for smaller, 32-inch, 22-inch and even 10-inch displays,” says Dominika Koncewicz
senior analyst at Context.
In Q2 2017, sales of 32-inch displays increased by almost +35% year-on-year in terms of both revenue and units. At the moment, the top vendor in this segment is Samsung, with an 86% market share, but LG is slowly gaining ground.
Another area boosting LFD revenues was interactive displays: income from this segment grew by +32% over the quarter. In this category, too, market share is being gained most rapidly by 75-inch and 55-inch screens, but 31,5-inch displays, offered mainly by iiyama, are also performing well.
“At the same time, to increase overall demand and meet fast-changing market needs, vendors are also offering optional screen overlays, which, for a little additional expenditure, allow standard LFDs to be converted into touchscreen displays that offer a more interactive experience,” says Dominika.
In terms of vendor performance in this period, Samsung retained its number one position with a 41% share of the total market, registering year-on-year revenue growth of +35%.
NEC and LG completed the top three, with shares of 11% each. However, for the first time in the last few quarters, NEC saw revenues decline (by -2%), while LG’s grew by +44%.