After the color TV industry moved forward under heavy pressure: replacing old with new and activating the existing market has become the key to breaking the deadlock

The 14-month panel price increase from April 2016 to May 2017 became the most watched issue in the color TV industry, and it was also the longest price increase process in the history of color TV panels.

There is no doubt that how to break the predicament of the industry and the color TV market while moving forward under the heavy pressure of rising panel costs is an important issue that everyone from upstream manufacturers to major TV manufacturers is focusing on.

On July 18, 2017, at the "CRC 2017 First Half Color TV Industry Research Conference" guided by the Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and co-organized by the China Electronic Video Industry Association and AVC, various competent authorities, research institutions, complete machine manufacturers, and TV software companies gathered together to conduct in-depth exploration and exchanges on breaking through the color TV industry around hot topics such as products, user experience, and channel development.

As the Internet dividend fades, companies should abandon price wars and concept wars

In the "2017 China Color TV Market Semi-annual Summary Report" interpreted by Weng Zhenhua, General Manager of AVC's Black Electronics Division, it can be seen that in the first half of 2017, the domestic color TV retail volume in China was 21.81 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 7.3%, and the retail sales were 74 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%.

Weng Zhenhua also said that the price increase of panels has the greatest impact on small and medium-sized panels. For example, in June 2017, the average sales price of 40” FHD and 43” FHD sets increased by 20% and 18% respectively. He also predicted that the profit of the color TV industry in the first half of 2017 will be less than 1%. The low-profit business model directly leads to greater operational difficulties for color TV companies.

At the same time, the Internet dividend that has helped the rapid popularization of smart TVs is gradually fading. Relevant data show that as of the first half of 2017, the penetration rate of Internet users in China was 53.2%, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%. The total number of Internet users has stabilized. In the first half of the year, the average weekly Internet usage time per person was 26.4 hours, a year-on-year decrease of 0.1 hours. Not only has the Internet user time been exhausted, but the online color TV retail volume in the first half of 2017 was 7.68 million units, accounting for 35%, which was also 1 percentage point lower than the same period last year.

In addition, the color TV industry carried out 18 promotions of varying sizes in 2016, six more than in 2015, using low prices as a promotional tool, especially for high-end products, successfully convincing consumers that "you can buy a higher style at a lower price", thereby lowering consumers' price expectations.

Faced with such a realistic market environment, Peng Jianfeng, deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Video Industry Association, pointed out that from the perspective of the company's own operations, it is imperative to control costs, improve product structure, increase product added value, and abandon price wars and concept wars.

The safe service life of color TV is 7 years and the consumption of color TV market is far from reaching the ceiling

Just as OLED, quantum dot and laser TV are three different types of technology that are developing rapidly on their own paths at this stage, 2017 is also regarded as the first year of artificial intelligence TV. Many new technologies have given rise to the emergence of new forms of products, relying on the replacement of old products with new ones to activate new demand in the existing market, becoming the key point for the color TV industry to break through.

From the most basic size distribution of China's color TV retail market in the first half of 2017, the share of 55" products grew fastest, up 7 percentage points year-on-year to 28.8%. Large sizes of 65" and above became the main battlefield for brands to occupy positions. In the first half of this year, there were 93 new models launched online and offline, an increase of 38 and 13 respectively over the same period last year, with a market share of 5.7%, an increase of 1.7 percentage points, indicating that the demand for large screens in the Chinese color TV market continues to increase.

Bai Weimin, executive vice president of the China Electronics Video Association, also pointed out that China is the most active color TV market in the world, with new products such as 4K, curved, OLED, and smart TVs accounting for the highest share of the world's total. However, the safe service life of color TVs is 7 years. However, many users are still using old TVs from more than ten years ago. Calculated based on the population ratio, the domestic annual sales of more than 50 million units is far from enough, and the market is far from reaching the consumption ceiling. In the future, we need to make great efforts to carry out market promotion.

What is more noteworthy is that Weng Zhenhua, general manager of AVC's black-and-white electronics business unit, made a prediction on the development trend of the color TV market in the second half of 2017. He believes that in the second half of the year, the rising trend of panel prices has been curbed and is expected to start falling in the fourth quarter. The decline in panel prices has alleviated the cost pressure of whole-machine companies to a certain extent, providing operating space for the year-end promotions in the color TV market in the fourth quarter.

Overall, the performance of China's color TV market in the second half of 2017 is better than that in the first half. In addition, consumption upgrading is the main theme of China's TV market. The increasing demand of consumers for high-end and differentiated TV products will also create important opportunities for the color TV industry to usher in a turning point this year.

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.