Bad news for anyone buying a new TV this year
Key Points
- Global TV shipments grew 3.6% year-on-year to 48.8 million units in 2Q26.
- Omdia expects tightening memory supply to push TV prices up this year.
- Brands will shift further towards 4K as low-capacity memory runs short.
- Samsung overtook TCL to lead Mini LED, taking a 28.2% share.
- Hisense's RGB LED share fell from 77.2% to 42.9% in two quarters.
Global TV shipments grew 3.6% year-on-year to 48.8 million units in 2Q26, but research firm Omdia expects tightening memory supply to push TV prices up over the rest of the year.
Memory constraints had only a limited effect on shipment volumes during the quarter, because brands kept promoting older product lines and drew on existing stocks of cheaper memory.
Those stocks will not last, and Omdia said prices will keep climbing while supply stays constrained.
Omdia also expects brands to move further away from lower-resolution sets towards 4K models, because lower-capacity memory faces the tightest supply of all.
Persistent consumer inflation is adding to cost pressure across the industry, although neither factor held back shipments during the quarter.
The FIFA World Cup and the timing of Amazon Prime Day both supported demand through the three months to the end of June.
China remains the largest drag on global growth, with shipments there falling 15.1% year-on-year after local stimulus programmes ended.
Western Europe recorded 9.5% growth over the quarter, while North America, home to two of the three World Cup host countries, grew 4.7%.
Emerging markets posted some of the strongest rates of all, with shipments up 14.5% in Eastern Europe and 12.8% in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Chinese brands continue to push shipments into overseas markets while demand at home stays subdued.
Mini LED and RGB LED competition
Mini LED sets accounted for 13% of global TV shipments in 2Q26, after adoption accelerated sharply during the quarter.
Samsung and LG Electronics both expanded their Mini LED line-ups and lowered entry price points, taking on TCL and Hisense in a segment those two brands previously led.
TCL held 30.2% of global Mini LED shipments in 1Q26, but Samsung climbed from third place to lead the market with a 28.2% share by 2Q26.
RGB LED shipments reached 295,000 units over the same period, a far smaller but faster-changing part of the market.
Hisense accounted for 77.2% of those shipments at the start of the year, when China made up 88.8% of the market.
Its share fell to 42.9% by 2Q26 as Samsung and Sony took significant ground.
“Prominent promotion of RGB LED TVs during the World Cup has undoubtedly helped increase consumer awareness of the technology,” said Matthew Rubin, Research Manager, TV Set Research, Omdia.
“As adoption grows, RGB LED will increasingly compete with OLED in the premium segment. Consumer preferences are likely to be shaped by pricing and how clearly consumers can evaluate the differences between the two technologies,” Rubin added.
