Spanish consumers bet on large inch televisions. The TV market of more than 75 inches will grow 40 percent this 2020 and the accumulated since 2018 shows a growth of 300 percent. Nacho Monge, TV & AV Marketing Manager of Samsung Spain, takes for granted that this is going to be the trend and advances that this year they will see televisions of these sizes “at the price of demolition.”
In an interview with Europa Press, in the framework of the Forum 2020 event – held in Malta -, in which the South Korean company has presented its novelties for this year, Monge says that “the psychological barrier of 1,000 euros is no longer going to be an impediment and Spanish consumers are going to go for 75-inch televisions. “
The Samsung spokesman explains that brands can afford to lower prices on these types of products because for a few years now manufacturers have been selling more and, therefore, “can create an economy of scale that allows them to produce more and sell cheaper.” In addition, it indicates that “UHD technology (which is usually the input range of most companies) is more mature and that helps.”
“For years we have seen that there is a great consumer trend towards large inch televisions. We did a market study in which we asked consumers how satisfied they were with the size of the television they had just bought and most told us that they were wrong and that they should have bought a bigger one, “adds Monge.
THE CHINESE COMPETITION
Samsung and LG control the TV market in Spain and Portugal. Between both companies they monopolize a market share that in many months ranges between 70 and 80 percent. A particular situation that is not replicated in any other European country, where the sum of Koreans is usually around 50 percent quota.
Now Samsung looks closely at the movements of new Chinese competitors, including Xiaomi, which launched its first televisions in Spain at the end of 2019. “We observe it with great attention. Watching as we do with all our competitors. The TV market is a bit more traditional than the mobile market, but we watch it carefully and focus on making our product more competitive,” says Monge.
Samsung is confident that 2020 will be a year of growth in this market, which is very sensitive to major sporting events. The Korean brand hopes to improve its figures, which led it to sell one in two TVs 65 inches or more in the market in 2019. Likewise, it aims to “democratize access to technology and make 8K a little more accessible”.
The company recognizes that 8K is a technology in full development and with sales volumes still “very low” in Spain, although Monge hopes to “multiply by five the sales of this type of television compared to 2019” – although he has not given more details about-.
THE SERO: VERTICAL TELEVISION
One of the most attractive news of Samsung for this 2020 is The Sero, the first TV that rotates to play content horizontally or vertically. “It’s a bet that is launched in Korea quite successfully and we want to move it worldwide,” says Monge, who describes a user profile that consumes 30 percent of the video content on the mobile, of which 95 per cent is in vertical format.
Another point that Samsung has wanted to highlight in this event is its commitment to TV as the center of the smart home. In this sense, they have insisted that 5G is going to be the “great revitalizer” of connected housing and the development of the Internet of Things (IoT). Thus, the company is committed to an open platform and integrates the assistants of Google and Amazon – in addition to Bixby.
