The only growth point in the large-screen market is just the beginning, and laser TV has become the industry benchmark

With the explosion of technologies such as 5G and AIoT, as the most natural large screen in the living room, the importance of smart TVs in the future is self-evident.

Therefore, when we examine the entire TV industry, we can find that smart TVs have come to a crossroads with a turning point, but most smart TV manufacturers still build products according to inertial thinking, and the form of TV products begins to tend to be directional thinking. Fortunately, at the Second Global Laser Display Technology and Industry Development Forum, the TV industry has found a development route with enlightening significance.

Two dark clouds in the television industry

In the view of industry experts, with the advent of the smart home era with a trillion-dollar market size, smart TVs will show explosive growth similar to smartphones, but in fact, the current smart TV market has continued the sluggish situation of the past few years.

Data released by Aowei Cloud Network shows that the overall retail volume of the Chinese color TV market fell by 9% year-on-year from January to July 2020. The data report released by IDC predicts that in 2020, China's smart TV shipments are expected to be only 44.8 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 4.4%.

In contrast to the market downturn, new manufacturers have all seen the opportunities of smart TVs in the smart home era and have rushed into the smart TV industry. Many mobile phone manufacturers have repeatedly announced that they will launch smart TVs in the near future.

As Focus Media founder Jiang Nanchun said: "There have been two extremes in the home appliance industry this year, one of which is the rampant price war."

The TV market itself is limited. When new players continue to enter the market, price wars will inevitably occur. Take this year's 618 as an example. The price of 85-inch smart TVs fell below 10,000 yuan, and 75-inch smart TVs only cost about 4,000 yuan. The average price of smart TVs in online channels was only 1,968 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.9%.

Therefore, if we observe the entire smart TV industry from a macro perspective, we will find that although smart TVs have now reached a vital turning point, in the context of the stock market, most smart TV manufacturers currently only focus on market share. This strategic direction has affected the evolution of products on the one hand, and on the other hand has triggered a vicious price war, which will undoubtedly bring great obstacles to the progress of the entire industry.

Where is the TV market going? The future is full of desire for new technologies.

Laser TVs are rising against the trend

Just when we thought that the smart TV industry could only sink step by step against the backdrop of stock growth, laser TV emerged as a dark horse in the first half of 2020 and took up the banner of growth.

Data from Aowei Cloud Network shows that from January to July 2020, against the backdrop of a 9.0% year-on-year decline in the retail volume of the overall color TV market in China, the retail volume of laser TVs increased by 77.5%, making it the only category in the entire TV market with positive growth. From 2015 to 2020, the compound growth rate of laser TVs reached an astonishing 213.8%.

Wu Sheng, founder of Scene Lab, explained the reason why laser TV has emerged so suddenly: "Laser TV is a new species of screen, and the color TV industry just needs the stimulation of new categories." In other words, this positive market performance is due to laser TV's active integration of technology to cater to consumers' needs for healthy living and high-end upgrades.

Although the overall market performance of the TV industry is not good, there is still room for growth in the ultra-large screen segment. According to statistics from CMM, in the first half of 2020, sales of ultra-large screen TVs above 75 inches increased by 109.6% year-on-year. Industry analysts predict that in 2020, the market share of 70-inch ultra-large screen TVs in China's smart TV market will exceed 5%, with a market size of 2 million units.

For LCD TVs, on the one hand, they are constrained by price wars, and on the other hand, they face the reality of increasing costs of ultra-large-screen panels, making it difficult to meet consumers' needs for ultra-large-screen TVs.

On the other hand, the presentation method of laser TV projection is undoubtedly well suited to the needs of this era. Lianming Bo, CEO of Appotronics, said: "Different displays have different tracks and different value spaces. Only by finding your own unique value space can you survive." It can be said that the ultra-large screen is the "unique value space" of laser TV.

On the other hand, due to the impact of the epidemic in the first half of the year, many students can only take online classes at home through large-screen terminals, which also makes many parents worry about their children's vision health. The product characteristics of laser TVs also happen to cater to this concept of healthy consumption.

Unlike LCD TVs that emit light directly, laser TVs need to undergo diffuse reflection before the light hits the screen. Xu Zuyan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said: "Laser TVs not only have good picture quality, but also have the outstanding advantages of being healthy, eye-protecting, and highly visual." In addition, a team of ophthalmologists from Peking Union Medical College Hospital and a group of comparative evaluation results from the CESI Laboratory of the China Electronics Standardization Institute at the end of 2019 also concluded that laser TVs are not only comfortable to watch, but also more conducive to protecting eye health.

In summary, in the context of the TV industry being caught in a price war caused by the existing market, laser TV has re-examined the market demands and consumer needs, and based on the advantages of its own products, it has effectively filled this market gap by avoiding a head-on competition with traditional TVs, undoubtedly setting a new and healthy development model for the entire industry.

Laser TV has a promising future

Although laser TVs are currently very popular, it is undeniable that since laser TVs have only been on the market for less than ten years, they are still slightly lacking in industry and standards compared to traditional LCD TVs, which can easily lead to positive development of the entire industry.

Fortunately, laser TV practitioners have seen the shortcomings of this aspect of the laser TV industry and focused on discussing this issue at the Second Global Laser Display Technology and Industry Development Forum.

First of all, there is no authoritative standard for the development of the laser TV industry. Each manufacturer is fighting on its own. If a bad company takes advantage of the situation, it will easily have a negative impact on the entire industry.

Hisense Group Chairman Zhou Houjian called for: "Clear standards should be established for laser TVs in terms of picture quality evaluation, energy consumption, screen specifications, etc. Standards should become the sword of Damocles for the development of the laser industry, and products with mixed quality and poor user experience must be eliminated."

According to Ren Aiguang, deputy director of the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in response to the laser TV standards, the Laser Display Device Sub-Technical Committee of the National Flat Panel Display Device Standardization Technical Committee was established in August 2020, and is stepping up the formulation of authoritative standards in the field of laser display.

Secondly, similar to LCD TVs, if laser TVs want to become a "mass" product, they also rely on the synchronous development of the upstream supply chain.

It is understood that at this forum, hundreds of related practitioners such as Changhong, Suning, and Nichia actively participated, and the relevant industrial chain has repeatedly won the favor of capital, and the valuations of many companies have risen. According to data from research institutions, there are currently more than 20 complete machine companies including Samsung, LG, and Hisense entering the laser TV track, and the number of companies in the upstream and downstream industrial chains has exceeded 100.

In addition, similar to the LCD display field where leading companies such as Samsung and LG set the tone for the entire industry, in the laser TV field, Hisense has also shouldered this heavy responsibility due to its early entry into the market and rich technological accumulation.

Hisense Group Chairman Zhou Houjian revealed that in 2021, Hisense will mass-produce curved screen laser TVs, commercial 8K laser TVs, and laser TVs with more than 10,000 lumens. In order to ensure the healthy development of the industry and allow latecomers to have a share in the laser TV industry, Zhou Houjian also stated that in the next five years, 1,000 laser TV-related patents will be shared with industry partners.

In fact, Hisense's move can, on the one hand, allow the second and third echelon laser TV players to see the path of industry development, and on the other hand, it can also make new players interested in entering the laser TV industry, which will undoubtedly have a very positive role in promoting the development of the industry.

In general, against the backdrop of the transformation of the entire television industry, laser TV has actively catered to market trends and gained a firm foothold.

On this basis, the players in the laser TV industry did not become complacent, but instead deeply reflected on the industrial advantages of LCD TVs and tried their best to make up for the disadvantages of the "young" laser TVs in this regard. Therefore, when we look back at the entire TV industry, we will find that laser power has technical advantages that LCD TVs cannot match, and on the other hand, it has tried its best to improve the ecological disadvantages of the industrial chain. Laser TV has thus ushered in the best development opportunity in the industry.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.