In the current home appliance industry, experts like Liang Zhen believe that the color TV market is experiencing a downturn, and 8K TVs are more of a branding strategy at this stage. He predicts that the 8K TV market will only mature in three to five years. Industry professionals also point out that the average household fiber-optic broadband still struggles to support full 4K content, let alone 8K movies. Even if someone buys an 8K TV, there may be no actual 8K content available to watch.
A common question from consumers when visiting TV stores is: "Why not buy a 4K TV if it's just a few hundred dollars more than a regular one?" This reflects the growing interest in higher-resolution displays.
However, just as 4K TVs were beginning to gain traction, Sharp launched the first consumer-grade 8K TV on August 31st. The price, however, was quite high—68,888 yuan—which makes it inaccessible for most consumers.
According to a CCTV report, the entire color TV industry has entered a “winter period,†with an average profit margin of less than 1%. With product differentiation becoming increasingly similar, companies have been competing over 4K for two years. Now, technologies like OLED and quantum dots are moving into the 8K space.
So, what exactly is an 8K TV? Technically, it has a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels—about four times that of 4K and 16 times that of standard HD. At the Sharp 8K TV conference, Foxconn’s Vice President Chen Zhenuo emphasized the company’s shift from being the “father of LCD†to the “father of 8K.†Sharp even raised its global TV shipment target for 2017 from 10 million to 14 million units, a 40% increase.
Other brands, including Samsung, Panasonic, LG, Hisense, Skyworth, and Konka, have also showcased their 8K TVs. For example, LG displayed a 98-inch 8K model at the 2016 AWE Expo, while Skyworth introduced its 8K TV at CES 2017. At the 2017 Berlin Electronics Show, Hisense unveiled a 4.9 mm thick 8K TV.
According to Nielsen’s “China’s Second Quarter Consumer Confidence Index Report,†Chinese consumers are increasingly seeking high-quality products. Up to 75% of consumers in first-tier cities are willing to pay more for advanced electronics. This trend may explain why companies are betting big on 8K technology.
Many industry insiders consider 2017 the “first year†of 8K TVs, and it’s likely that more brands will launch consumer-grade models during the year. However, Liang Zhen remains skeptical, stating that 8K TVs are still more of a brand gimmick due to the downturn in the color TV industry and that the market will take three to five years to mature.
Despite the excitement around 8K, it seems too early for widespread adoption. Its predecessor, 4K TV, is still dominant. Since LG introduced the world’s first 4K TV in 2012, 4K has become the mainstream. During a visit to offline appliance stores, Times Finance found that 4K TVs and curved TVs were given the best display positions. Sales staff at Suning said they were pushing 4K TVs, and 90% of customers were willing to try them.
Prices for 4K TVs have dropped significantly. A 49-inch 4K TV now costs only 300 yuan more than a regular HD model. But when asked about 8K TVs, many salespeople said they were not yet available for sale.
According to Ove Cloud data, 4K TVs accounted for 57% of total LCD flat-panel TV sales in China from January to July 2017, and 77% of sales. A 2016 white paper on the Chinese TV industry showed that 26% of consumers considered “4K†the most useful technology after “smart.â€
A retail industry insider told Times Finance that 4K TVs are still in their “strong years†and could remain popular for another three to four years before 8K takes off.
The main barriers to 8K TV adoption are transmission technology and high prices. An industry source explained that a compressed 4K movie is about 200GB, requiring a download speed of 40 Mbps. But most Chinese households only have 200Mbps fiber, which translates to 25 Mbps. As a result, even 4K streaming often gets downgraded.
For 8K, the problem is even worse. A one-minute 8K video requires over 100GB, and 20 minutes can reach 4TB—far beyond the storage capacity of most devices. Yi Qiyi, vice president of Galaxy Internet TV, noted that the data volume increases exponentially with higher resolution, creating challenges in transmission and broadcasting.
Price is another major obstacle. When 4K TVs first came out, they cost tens of thousands of yuan. It took five years for the price to drop below 5,000 yuan. Sharp’s first consumer-grade 8K TV is priced over 60,000 yuan, which is still very expensive.
Industry experts say that the high price is partly due to immature supply chains and limited panel production. Liang Zhen pointed out that 8K panels are not yet mass-produced, so costs remain high. Additionally, supporting 8K playback requires better CPUs and components, making the final product expensive.
JDI was the first to develop an 8K panel in 2015, followed by Samsung and BOE. After acquiring Sharp, Foxconn invested 6.1 billion yuan to build a 10.5-generation LCD panel line in Guangzhou, with 8K panels expected to start production in 2019.
Ove Cloud predicts that 8K panel production will surge by 2019, reaching 6–7 million units annually. By 2022, shipments could hit 8.2 million units, with a penetration rate of 3.3%. At that point, 8K TV prices are expected to drop significantly.
Even though 8K TVs are still expensive, some industry insiders argue that the price isn’t much different from high-end 4K models. On Jingdong Mall, there are over 300 high-end 4K TVs priced above 25,000 yuan, with some 70-inch models exceeding 50,000 yuan. Sharp’s 8K TV is not far behind in price.
One retailer told Times Finance: “When prices come down, 8K TVs might become popular faster than 4K.â€
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