A new look at home appliances: Surface TV makes executives eye-popping? !

A few days ago I met a very interesting thing: A friend came to me and said that his old father wanted to buy a curved TV and let me recommend it to the recommendation. I said that if the elderly people would like to buy a better brand, if the demand is high, it would be better to buy a larger size, 4K, why buy curved TV? After all, the price of curved TV is still relatively expensive, especially the more reliable brands and models, which are 3-5 percent more expensive than flat TVs of the same size.

And my friend began to pour with me: his old father decided that curved TV is better than flat TV, although he said that curved TV has a "best viewing angle" problem, but also know that the price is similar to the same plane TV is expensive, but the old man still wants curved TV. The old man said that the first picture of the curved TV looks different from the flat TV. It has a unique sense of envelopment. The second way is special. Although expensive, it is at least different in appearance. With the current popular saying, that is, differentiation is obvious enough. And he can only spend more money to meet the old father's request.

The above story is by no means fabricated, so this prompted me to start thinking about whether curved TV will usher in a big explosion in 2016? After all, from the statistics of the entire industry last year, the cumulative sales of curved TVs just exceeded the scale of one million units. Although this absolute amount is not too small, it is only a comparatively small number of products compared to the overall sales volume of nearly 50 million units. This also led me to think subconsciously that curved TVs have to take 2-3 years to truly become consumer electronics.

The first appearance of curved TV in the Chinese market was actually thanks to the work of Japanese TV brands. If you remember correctly, in the summer of 2013, Sony in China (in fact, the world's first) launched a curved surface TV with a curvature of about 6000R, which for the first time made Chinese consumers know what It is called a curved TV. (The most important indicator of curved TV is curvature. What is curvature? The popular saying is the degree of screen bending. The greater the curvature, the smoother the screen, the smaller the curvature, the greater the degree of screen bending. If you have no concept of 6000R, you can compare it. At present, the curvaceous curvature of mainstream curved TV is about 4000R, the former is probably like a white paper with slightly curled edges, and the 4000R has to be like a roll of A4 paper into a paper tube and let it naturally flatten the bending degree. )



Although it was the Japanese brand that made the first curved surface television, it was due to the Korean brand that brought the surface television to the market on a large scale. Since 2014, Samsung, the world's largest color television company, has begun to shift its focus to curved television. At CES 2014, Samsung released its flagship, sub flagship LCD product with a curvature of 4200R, which was completed almost overnight. The shift also released a very clear signal that the good days for curved TV are coming.

Under Samsung's lead role in demonstration, domestic brands including Hisense, TCL, and Changhong have also joined the camp of curved TV. Data shows that by the end of 2015, all curved TV models on the domestic market have reached 100 models. On the other hand, the curved TV with better profit space also attracted the attention of channel providers. For example, at the end of 2015, the China Household Electrical Appliance Business Association had made guidelines for the main surface curved televisions for its member units throughout the country. We must know that the members of this association may have regional distributors such as Zhejiang Baicheng, Industry & Trade Appliances, Zhongbai Electric, Tongli Electric Appliances, and Huiyin Home Appliances that have heavyweight voice in traditional electrical distribution channels.

The common pushing and pulling effect of enterprises and channels naturally further promotes the performance of curved TV in the terminal market. Even the Japanese brand that once only used curved TV as an alternative niche category tasted the sweetness. According to a Japanese brand employee who spoke privately and chatted, their surface TVs, although they had few models and were not the focus of the main push in the interior, were sold unexpectedly well in 2015, and they did not originally favor this product. Company executives are surprised. Last year, LeTV's 65-inch curved surface television was said to have been unforgettable for its first batch of engineering commemorative editions.

The figures may be even more illustrative: According to Ove's 2015 statistics, China’s TV market totaled more than 46 million units in 2015. Curved TV has the most outstanding performance rate in all high-end markets, with its penetration rate increasing to 2.8% (this figure does not include curved OLED TVs yet). The sales volume of curved TVs not only exceeded the proportion of 0.1% in OLED TVs, but also exceeded the proportion of 1.1% in ultra-thin TVs.

The above statistics actually reflect the current trend of TV industry, especially the high-end TV industry. Because with the entry of various Internet companies, the profits of traditional color TVs have even fallen to "as good as selling vegetables" and even selling a losing position. Only by turning their attention to high-end products with high added value can companies change the vicious circle of rising market share but falling profits. Curved TVs and OLED TVs, including ultra-thin TVs, have become a few major “outlets”.

Compared with several competitors, the advantage of curved TV is quite obvious: on the one hand, curved TV is not as expensive as OLED TV. On the one hand, it has ten times the choice space for OLED brand and model, plus appearance, viewing experience and Only the ultra-thin flat-screen TVs with varying thicknesses are fundamentally different, and it will be natural to stand out among these rivals.

In fact, companies like Samsung, able to "buy overnight" treasure all behind curved surface television will inevitably have a comprehensive market survey and user needs analysis support. The follow-up of domestic companies such as TCL and Hisense is also difficult to describe with “blindness”. After all, these are companies that have fought for decades in the industry. Those who really have no future will not spend too much time. Efforts to do it. The story mentioned at the beginning of the article also made me have to face another reality, that is, the market cultivation of curved TV will be completed much earlier than I expected.



Curved TV can bring better profits to enterprises and channels on the one hand, so that everyone is willing to promote; on the one hand, it can be differentiated from the traditional flat-panel TVs from the appearance to the visual experience, and more and more. With high user acceptance, these three points are enough to make one conclude that the curved TV market is about to enter a period of escalating growth. As for the ultimate height that can be achieved in 2016, I have checked the forecasts given by some institutions when writing this article, and the most optimistic even gave a conclusion that it will occupy 50% of the high-end TV market. Although I still have reservations about such a positive view, if curved surface television interpretation really achieves such a result, at least I won't be overly surprised.

Return to the real story at the beginning. Do you want to know which curved TV I recommended to that friend? Still do not say the brand, the province has the suspicion of advertising, but there is a principle we can refer to, that is, we must buy more than 65, and why? After you go to the store and compare with 55 baht, you will definitely agree with me.

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