Japanese HDTV manufacturer Panasonic is still the overall leader in the global plasma TV market in terms of shipment volume, but its market share is being slowly eroded by South Korean rivals Samsung and LG Electronics. Together, these three companies account for more than 97% of the plasma panels supplied worldwide in 2010.
These data were gleaned from the Plasma and LCD TV Panel Shipment Module within the Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report recently published by US-based display market research consultancy DisplaySearch. Among other things, the firm monitors the supply and demand, factory output, as well as shipments by brand and region in the plasma television market, and then provides further analyses and forecasts based on the information collected.
Last year, Panasonic posted a year-on-year growth of 22% on a unit basis, and 4% on a revenue basis compared to 2009. While the Osaka-headquartered corporation remains the number one plasma TV panel supplier in the world, its market share actually dropped slightly from 43.1% in 2009 to 40.7% in 2010.
And it is the Korean conglomerates Samsung and LGE who are gradually gaining ground on Panasonic in the flat-screen plasma display business. In the process of growing its units shipped 37% and revenue earned 15% on a year-on-year basis, Samsung managed to increase its market share to 33.7% in 2010 from 31.7% the year before. LG’s plasma market share also improved marginally from 23.1% in 2009 to 23.3% last year, fuelled by a year-on-year growth of 30% in unit terms, and 22% in revenue terms.
A plasma TV maker from China made great strides in 2010, even though its PDP market share captured is still miniscule (2.2%) in comparison to the big three. Sichuan COC, which is backed by Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers Sichuan Changhong and Century Shuanghong, grew 421% year-on-year in unit shipments and 356% in earnings, as the company began mass production of 42-inch plasma TVs in China during the final quarter of last year.
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