Tokyo Olympics D-3... TV Industry, 'Olympic Boom' Is Already a Thing of the Past

Global Shipments Expected to Increase by Single Digits in H1
No Demand Pull-Forward from Olympic Boost
Japan Market Holds Up; Europe Sees 'Euro 2020' Effect
TV Industry Focuses on COVID Issues Over Sports Events

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] With the Tokyo Olympics just 3 days away, the TV industry continues to maintain a calm atmosphere without any signs of festive excitement. The ‘Olympic boom,’ where sports events temporarily sparked a boom in the TV market, has long become a thing of the past, and now the ‘COVID-19 boom’ has become a key variable determining the outlook of the global market.

According to Omdia on the 20th, global TV shipments in the first half of this year are expected to increase by 8.6% year-on-year to 100,197,500 units. Shipments in the first quarter rose 9.9% to 51,254,500 units, and second-quarter shipments are projected to increase 7.2% to 48,943,000 units.

Usually, in years when the Summer Olympics are held every four years, demand for TV replacement in the second half of the year tends to be brought forward and concentrated in the first half, but this year growth is expected to remain in the single digits. Even this single-digit growth is far below market expectations, considering that shipments in the first half of last year sharply declined due to production disruptions caused by COVID-19.

Moreover, as global vaccination progresses and COVID-19 pent-up demand is expected to gradually disappear, the market outlook for the second half of this year is also bleak. Omdia forecasts that the annual global TV market shipments this year will decrease by about 1% compared to the previous year, reaching approximately 223.04 million units.

Industry insiders agree that the disappearance of the sports event effect is not a recent phenomenon. Even during the 2016 Brazil Olympics, the global TV market contracted. In the first quarter of 2016, just before the Olympics, shipments decreased 1.6% year-on-year to 49,076,800 units, and in the second quarter, shipments fell 0.3% to 47,841,600 units.

Looking at this year’s market by region, the host country Japan is expected to perform relatively well. According to Omdia, domestic TV shipments in Japan grew 18.4% year-on-year in the first quarter and are expected to increase by 19.2% in the second quarter.

Additionally, due to the influence of the UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2020), which was popular throughout Europe, the Western European market is expected to show the highest growth this year. The industry explains that while the effect of global events like the Tokyo Olympics is difficult to expect, leveraging the characteristics of regions passionate about specific sports can effectively utilize sports marketing, as seen in Europe.

The Western European TV market is expected to record growth rates of 26.9% in the first quarter and 16.3% in the second quarter this year. In particular, as more consumers want to watch games in premium high definition, the share of OLED TV sales in the entire European market in the second quarter is expected to reach a record high of 15%.

An industry official said, "The impact of sports events on the global market is minimal and shows regional differences. Now, the market’s top concern is how long the non-face-to-face demand caused by COVID-19 will continue rather than short-term events."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.