Olympics D-1 Electronics Industry TV Battle... "Expecting Increased Demand for Large and Premium Models"

Enjoy Sports Games on a Large Screen

Photo by Samsung Electronics website

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] On the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics opening, fierce competition is underway among home appliance companies to boost TV sales. The first quarter is traditionally considered an off-season for the TV market, but this year, faced with the special situation of the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, there is great expectation that consumers who want to enjoy sports games on large screens will increase purchases of extra-large and premium products.

According to the industry on the 3rd, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are conducting events and promotions to boost TV sales ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics opening on the 4th. Samsung Electronics is selling 70 units of the event QLED stand-type TV at 990,000 KRW during the large-scale domestic discount event 'Samsung Electronics Sale Festa' until the 13th of this month, and is also selling Neo QLED TVs with mini LED technology at discounted prices. They are also running a campaign that applies overlapping points according to the amount spent, and are offering opportunities to purchase QLED stand-type TVs and soundbars together at prices discounted by about 30-40%.

LG Electronics is offering up to 3 million KRW 'cheering cashback' when purchasing LG OLED TVs through the 'Sports Festival with OLED' event until the opening day of the Olympics, and is also providing cashback of up to 500,000 KRW and 100,000 KRW respectively on premium LCD TVs such as QNED and NanoCell.

Retailers are also supporting TV sales promotion, such as Emart running a 'Premium TV Festa' from today until the 16th, targeting 'Jipgwanjok' (people watching at home) for the Olympics, selling Samsung QLED TVs and LG OLED TVs at the lowest prices of the year. Emart offers coffee coupons worth 20,000 KRW and 30,000 KRW respectively when purchasing Samsung or LG TVs with payment amounts over 2 million KRW and 3 million KRW, along with additional discount coupons and gift certificates.

The home appliance industry has set a strategy to sharply increase sales of large and premium TVs this year. This is because major sports events such as the Beijing Olympics this month, the NFL Super Bowl final (on the 13th), the Hangzhou Asian Games (September), and the Qatar World Cup (November) are scheduled.

Having confirmed last year that the surge in demand for home appliances including TVs led to record sales, the industry is showing movements to actively utilize sports games in TV sales marketing this year as well. Generally, as major sports events approach, sports fans who want to watch games on bigger screens and with better picture quality increase, leading to a trend where TV purchases focus on extra-large and premium products.

An industry official said, "Large and premium TVs played a key role in last year's performance," adding, "There are big concerns that TV demand might decline this year, but starting with the Olympics and the series of upcoming sports events, we have no choice but to actively utilize these games for TV sales."

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