中国电视的“坏日子” 还没结束

This article sorts out the current status of China's TV market, with key takeaways as follows:

1. The overall industry continues to decline. After the phasing out of national subsidies, Q2 TV shipments in China fell 15.1% year-on-year. In the first half of 2026, total retail volume dropped 12.7% year-on-year, and retail revenue fell 7.7%. Even the FIFA World Cup and the 618 shopping festival failed to drive sales growth, and the downturn continued into July.

2. The industry is undergoing a major reshuffle. Konka, once China's leading color TV brand, plans to voluntarily delist after years of losses that left it insolvent. Foreign brands including Samsung and LG have exited the Chinese market, with only three players such as Sony remaining in the low-tier market. Hisense and TCL have achieved double growth in both revenue and profit thanks to their technological advantages.

3. Future industry growth will be concentrated in the high-end segment. Mini LED TVs are growing against the broader downturn, and AI-powered large screens are the next key direction for industry exploration. For general consumers, high-end Mini LED models from leading brands are recommended as top options when purchasing a new TV.

China's TV industry is currently in a period of deep adjustment. Key takeaways for brands are as follows:

1. Consumption and competition trends: The era of widespread mass demand for TVs in China is over, and consumer replacement demand remains weak. The traditional rule that major sports years drive sales growth no longer holds. Young consumers increasingly prefer to consume content on smartphones and tablets, and the incompatibility between TV memberships and mobile memberships further reduces user willingness to purchase. Long-term cutthroat price competition in the domestic market has forced continuous consolidation of small and medium-sized brands and legacy manufacturers, with almost all foreign brands having exited the market.

2. Actionable insights: Leading players Hisense and TCL have secured solid market positions and achieved double growth in revenue and profit by leveraging differentiated technological advantages. Facing intense domestic competition, brands can shift their business focus to overseas markets to avoid cutthroat price wars at home.

3. Product R&D direction: Brands should abandon the low-price, high-volume strategy and focus on high-end development. They should prioritize布局 in the Mini LED segment, which has seen continuous penetration growth, while exploring new AI-powered large screen functions to unlock incremental demand in the existing stock market.

Based on the current status of China's TV industry, key takeaways for sellers are as follows:

1. Risk warning: Domestic TV market demand continues to slump, and the downturn has not reversed after national subsidies were phased out. Sports marketing and major shopping festival promotions cannot boost sales growth. The industry has long been trapped in cutthroat price competition, leaving extremely narrow survival space. Even former leading brand Konka has reached the point of delisting, meaning operating risks are very high for small and mid-sized players.

2. Opportunity outlook: Overseas markets represent a new source of growth. Many brands have already shifted their focus overseas to escape vicious competition at home. There is still room for growth in the high-end market: Mini LED TV sales are growing against the broader downturn, and art TV growth exceeds 30%. High-end products can deliver steady profit growth.

3. Key lessons: To achieve stable growth during the industry downturn, sellers should avoid low-price competition, pursue a technology-differentiated high-end route, and build competitive barriers by core display technology.

China's TV industry has entered a phase of deep adjustment. Key takeaways for factories across the TV supply chain are as follows:

1. Shifts in production and design demand: Demand for low-volume, mass-market traditional LCD TVs continues to decline. The market has shifted from universal mass demand to high-end upgrade demand, with growing demand for large-size products featuring high-end display technologies. In the first half of 2026, Mini LED TV penetration reached 29.4%, rising further to 31.9% in the second quarter, and it continues to climb.

2. Business opportunities: Domestic industry consolidation is accelerating, with continuous exit of small and medium-sized brands and growing market concentration among leading brands. At the same time, global demand for Mini LED continues to rise. Chinese panel manufacturers have already secured technological dominance in LCD, and the overseas expansion of leading Chinese TV brands has brought stable overseas order opportunities to upstream factories.

3. Strategic insights: Factories should keep up with the technology upgrading pace of leading brands, align with leading brands' technological roadmaps, enter the supply chain for high-end products, avoid vicious competition in low-end low-price capacity, and capture the dividends of industry upgrading.

Based on current development of China's TV industry, key takeaways for related service providers are as follows:

1. Industry development trends: China's TV market has bid farewell to the golden era of scale growth and entered the second half of stock adjustment. Industry consolidation is accelerating, with continuous exit of small and medium-sized brands and foreign brands, and the market is increasingly concentrated among leading players. High-end and technology-driven development will be the main direction going forward.

2. Core pain points of brand clients: First, domestic demand is weak and intense price competition leaves brands with razor-thin margins. Second, in stock-based competition, brands struggle to find new incremental growth, and AI-powered large screens have not yet delivered mature user experiences, leaving brands without a clear path to break through. Third, many legacy manufacturers are slow to transform and cannot keep up with industry changes, making them vulnerable to being eliminated.

3. Industry opportunities: Service providers can offer supporting R&D services for high-end display technologies, supporting services for brands' global expansion, and technical solutions for AI-powered large screens. They can help brands develop new AI Agent functions for large screens to unlock new demand in the stock market.

Key takeaways for TV retail platform operators based on recent changes in China's TV industry are as follows:

1. Risk warning: Overall domestic TV demand continues to decline, and even major shopping promotions cannot boost sales growth. The industry is seeing a double drop in both total volume and total revenue. Industry consolidation on the brand side is accelerating, with small and medium-sized brands and legacy manufacturers facing high delisting risk. Platforms need to mitigate operational risks when onboarding new brands, and prepare in advance for after-sales issues following brand delistings.

2. Platform opportunities: The average price of high-end TVs is rising steadily, and demand for high-end models such as Mini LED TVs is growing against the broader downturn. Consumers still have demand for TV upgrades. Platforms can adjust their operating strategies, allocate more traffic to the high-end TV category, prioritize招商 for high-end product lines from leading brands, and capture the dividends of high-end upgrading.

3. Areas for optimization: In response to user feedback that TV memberships are incompatible with mobile and tablet memberships, which reduces purchase willingness, platforms can collaborate with brands to explore a cross-device membership interoperability solution, improve user experience, and drive product sales.

China's TV industry has seen many new changes recently, and the core content worth studying is as follows:

1. New industry trends: The domestic TV market has entered a phase of stock-based competition, and industry consolidation is accelerating. Former industry leader Konka plans to voluntarily delist, almost all foreign brands have exited the Chinese market, and leading players Hisense and TCL have achieved revenue and profit growth through technological advantages. Industry reshuffle is accelerating. On the technology side, China-led Mini LED technology has become a new growth curve, with penetration continuing to rise, and AI-powered large screens are the next key area for industry exploration.

2. New industry challenges: After the completion of TV popularization, the industry's scale dividend has completely disappeared. Long-term cutthroat price competition in the domestic market has become the norm, and the traditional logic that sports marketing drives growth no longer holds. User habits have shifted to smaller screens, and unlocking new incremental growth has become the core challenge the entire industry must address.

3. Key insights: The old business model relying on scale expansion and price competition is no longer viable. A new business model focused on high-end development and technological differentiation is better suited to the current competitive environment. Global expansion is a viable new growth path for brands, and growing concentration among leading players is an inevitable trend amid industry iteration.