8K TVs are set to achieve modest success over the next few years, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics’ Connected Home Devices service. The research group says that consumer technology adoption models predict that 56 million homes worldwide will own an 8K TV by the end of 2025.
The US will be the most successful market, with 8% of households owning an 8K TV by this time. 8K TVs have only been introduced in recent months, and the research finds that global sales in 2019 will reach 0.5 million units. Compared to the US, where super-large displays have long been accepted, 8K TV will struggle in most other regions. The report concludes that 8K TV will be good for TV vendors, but less meaningful for the content industry. Other key findings from the report include:
° Annual sales of 8K TVs will reach 31 million units worldwide by 2025, worth $35 billion in retail revenues.
° China will see the highest volumes for 8K TV through 2025 as domestic vendors are quick to adopt 8K resolutions for their large screen ranges.
° Sales of 8K TVs will be concentrated in the 60-inch and above screen size categories. All 8K TVs today are above 60-inch in size and by 2025 the 60-inch and above category will still account for more than 70% of 8K TV demand.
“8K TV is likely to attract a lot of attention this year,” says David Watkins, director at Strategy Analytics. “TV manufacturers and video technology vendors are all keen to promote the idea that 8K is a logical and inevitable upgrade to today’s 4K. This makes sense, up to a point, and 8K will achieve a foothold in the market where demand for the largest screen sizes is strong.”
Michael Goodman, director, TV & Media Strategies, adds: “The availability of true 8K content is going to remain extremely restricted for some years. Many content providers and distributors are still migrating to 4K from basic HD and will see little justification in investing in 8K when so few viewers will see any benefit for many years. Instead, they should focus on other important image enhancement technologies such as HDR (high dynamic range) and HFR (high frame rate).”
