China's LCD TV Market Research Report for the First Half of 2012

In the first half of 2012, China's LCD TV market had both the implementation of favorable policies and the promotion of the new concept "Cloud TV." As for the brand's attention to the pattern, the LCD TV market has undergone major changes. Samsung replaced Sony to win the brand's attention, and Sony and Hisense ranked second and third. The change in the pattern of China's LCD TV market in the first half of the year reflects the increasing consumer spending power and higher product performance requirements. From the perspective of product structure, LED backlighting and 3D TVs have shown rapid growth and momentum. Consumers have increasingly focused on visual enjoyment. In addition, large-size products are favored by more and more consumers in the LCD TV market in China. The research on ZDC's Internet consumption research center's brand and product structure in the first half of the Chinese LCD TV market conducted research:

Report points:

• Brand structure: The brand's attention to the pattern has changed significantly. Samsung took the lead with 17.3%. Sony and Hisense ranked second and third. All other brands have changed except for Hisense.

• Backlight type structure: LED backlight products have attracted much attention, and from January to June, the proportion of attention has been on the rise.

• 3D type structure: 3D LCD TVs have seen a large increase in the proportion of attention, which has exceeded 40%, and the development momentum is good.

• Screen size structure: Large-screen products are highly favored, and the proportion of 42-inch products has been increasing.

• Resolution structure: The attention ratio of Full HD products with a resolution of 1920×1080 slowly increased from 80.5% in January to 84.9% in June.

• Price segment structure: The proportion of products under the 5,000 yuan price segment has been increased. Compared with the same period of last year, the price that consumers pay attention to has decreased.

• Analysis of mainstream manufacturers: Sony’s popularity has declined significantly, but its single product attention rate has been slightly ahead; Hisense’s number of products has reached 221 models.

I. Market Overview • Implementation of favorable policies According to the report of Xinhua News Agency, the Ministry of Finance has arranged for 26.5 billion subsidy funds to promote energy-saving appliances. This energy-saving home appliance subsidy policy is another favorable policy for home appliance manufacturers to see hope after home appliances and home appliance replacement. The main benefits of this policy are energy-efficient, energy-efficient home appliances, including air conditioners, color TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and water heaters. The LCD TV is also in the ranks, which can drive the consumption of LCD TV market.

• The breakthrough in the development of 3D TVs in China The start of 3D TVs in China is basically synchronized with the global market, and it is currently maintaining a synchronous development speed. In the first half of the year, the number of optional models for 3D TVs has increased dramatically, and product prices have steadily declined. Then as long as the 3D content resources are gradually enriched, 3D TVs will inevitably develop at a faster rate.

• The development of smart TVs is still limited Smart TVs are still the main trend of TV development in the future, and television manufacturers are gradually transitioning to applications around the era of display screens. For example, the new concept of “cloud TV” that has been widely heard since August 2011 is an extension of smart TVs and an upgrade of existing applications of smart TVs, which greatly enhances the practicality of smart TVs. The "cloud" is still the most critical operating system. If companies do not integrate their mobile phones, computers, and televisions with their own operating systems, they will face enormous pressure in the future competition.

II. Analysis of market structure (I) Brand structure • Samsung led Chinese LCD TV market In the first half of 2012, Samsung in China’s LCD TV market took the lead with a ratio of 17.3%. Sony and Hisense ranked second and third respectively, with 15.5% and 12.6% respectively. The champions and runners-up are all foreign brands, and Hisense has entered the top three brands and won glory for the Chinese people.

• Large changes in brand awareness Compared with the same period of last year, the LCD TV market has seen a greater change in brand awareness. Among them, Samsung is concerned about a larger increase in proportion, not only entering the top three but also winning the championship. Sony fell from runner-up to runner-up, Sharp dropped two places and ranked fourth. Skyworth, LG and Changhong all dropped one place. The proportions of TCL and Konka’s attention were slightly higher, with both rankings rising by two, ranking fifth and eighth respectively. Haier ranked tenth in the list with new faces.



(Chart) Distribution of brand awareness in China's LCD TV market in the first half of 2012 (Table) Comparison of brand awareness in China's LCD TV market during the first half of 2011-2012 Rank in the first half of 2011

Ranking In the first half of 2011, the proportion of brand attention in the first half of 2012 was about the brand's attention ratio 1. Sony 18.40% Samsung ↑ 3 17.30% 2 Sharp 14.40% Sony ↓ 1 15.50% 3 Hisense 12.40% Hisense 12.60% 4 Samsung 11.50% Sharp ↓ 2 12.20% 5 Skyworth 10.00% TCL↑2 8.50% 6 LG 8.10% Skyworth ↓1 7.90% 7 TCL 7.10% LG↓1 6.90% 8 Changhong 3.90% Konka↑2 6.40% 9 Philips 2.90% Changhong 1 4.50% 10 Konka 2.90% Haier   New 1.70% — Other 8.40% Other 6.50%