US retail giant Walmart announced on February 20th, that it has acquired smart TV brand Vizio for US$2.3 billion, aiming to accelerate the growth of its advertising business: Walmart Connect. Since its launch in 2021, Walmart Connect has seen double-digit annual growth in both its online and offline retail media advertising ventures. Vizio has been expanding its device ecosystem and its SmartCast TV OS, boasting over 18 million active users, according to TrendForce.
TrendForce research indicates that global TV shipments in 2023 amounted to approximately 195 million units—a 2.7% YoY decrease, setting a new low for the past decade. Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2024, which coincides with the traditional off-season for consumer products, global TV shipments are estimated to decrease by 18.9% QoQ to 43.28 million units. However, there is potential for a slight increase in annual shipments by 0.3%, reaching about 196 million units for the whole year.
Global TV demand continues to be adversely impacted by inflation in 2023. Even price reductions and promotions on high-priced products have struggled to boost sales as consumers contend with limited disposable income. This has resulted in a decline in shipments for international brands that primarily focus on mid-to-high-end models, according to TrendForce's research.
This approach spurred a 7.6% growth in 2Q23 TV shipments and an annual growth of 2.1%. In summary, the first half of 2023 saw global TV shipments hitting 90.4 million units, marking a 3.5% YoY decline, according to TrendForce research.
TrendForce’s latest forecast predicts global TV shipments for 2Q23 will reach 46.63 million units—a 7.5% increase QoQ, a 2% growth YoY. The uptick in shipments is primarily due to strong stockpiling momentum from Chinese brands for the 618 e-commerce shopping festival.
TrendForce reveals that Chinese brands—capitalizing on the anticipation for the 618 shopping festival and overseas channels restocking their inventories—have pushed global TV shipments in 1Q23 to an impressive 43.37 million units.
With the reduced number of work days in January, Chinese brands pulled some orders forward and began shipments for these orders as early as the end of 2022. Therefore, the effect of the low season during 1Q23 has been more severe for them. TrendForce projects that the total TV shipments from Chinese brands in 1Q23 will register a larger-than-average QoQ drop of 30.6%.
As a result, TrendForce now estimates that global TV shipments in 2H22 will reach 109 million units, reflecting a YoY decline of 2.7%. Global TV shipments during the whole 2022 are currently projected to total 202 million units, showing YoY decline of 3.9%. This annual shipment figure represents a decade low.
According to TrendForce investigations, global TV shipments in 3Q22 reached 51.39 million units, growing 12.4% QoQ and falling 2.1% YoY. As the shadow of rising inflation envelops the world, consumer product budgets have become seriously constrained, indirectly inhibiting the willingness to purchase TV products. Entering the fourth quarter, TV brands have launched large-scale promotions in order to surge this year's shipments. TV shipments in 4Q22 are expected to increase by 10.8% QoQ to 56.96 million units, but still down 3.5% compared with the same period last year and a new low for the period. Under the influence of factors such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, rising inflation, and interest rate hikes, global TV shipments in 2022 are estimated at only 202 million units, falling 3.8% YoY, and the lowest level in the past decade.
