Global TV market dips in third quarter

Global TV shipments, totalling 52.5 million units, saw a minor year-on-year decline in the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest research from Omdia. 

The firm explained that this is primarily because one of the world’s largest regional markets, China, contracted rapidly following the end of government subsidies.

The global decline was marginal, with shipments falling by 0.6 per cent year-on-year, according to data from Omdia’s latest TV Sets (Emerging Technologies) Market Tracker.

The biggest regional fall was recorded in China, where year-on-year shipments plummeted by 12.2 per cent.

Demand for TVs in China had been boosted by government subsidies over the last year, but that funding is now running out in some regions, and many consumers have already upgraded their sets.

In contrast, another key market, North America, defied expected economic impacts of tariffs and grew by 2.3 per cent.

Equally notable in the third quarter was the strong 7.7 per cent growth in the Asia and Oceania region, indicating that Chinese TV brands are looking toward neighbouring countries to compensate for their falling domestic demand.

The sharp contraction in shipments in China clearly highlights how dependent recent market growth has been on artificially boosted demand through government subsidies.

With this funding now running low, coupled with many consumers already upgrading over the last year, an extended period of limited shipment volume is now expected in China.

For other international markets, this contraction means that Chinese brands, such as Hisense and TCL, will undoubtedly look outward to other regions to maintain their market-beating growth momentum.

Hisense and TCL were up 11 per cent and 2 per cent year-on-year, respectively, in the third quarter of 2025.

“Chinese brands have already made significant progress in taking market share around the world and their subdued local market will likely accelerate these efforts,” said Matthew Rubin, Principal Analyst, TV Set Research, Omdia.

Rubin explained that while “tariffs and capacity constraints in Mexico complicate the drive toward quick growth” in the US, “in Europe and other Asian countries, notably India, there is more accessible opportunity”.

The slowdown in China has also impacted the rate of growth for the 80-inch and larger segment globally.

Expansion in the extra-large segment almost halved from over 40 per cent each quarter over the last year, cooling to just 23.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2025.

The 70–79-inch category has also cooled considerably, seeing year-on-year growth of only 1.1 per cent.

This presents a strategic dilemma for Chinese brands, which have heavily focused on low-cost, large-screen TVs in key markets like North America and China.

As attention shifts to Europe and Asia and Oceania, average size preferences are considerably smaller, for example, 62.8 inches in China compared with just 45.5 inches in Asia and Oceania for the third quarter of 2025.