Inside Samsung’s Global Domination of Television Markets

• Samsung maintains global TV leadership through innovation, brand trust, and strategic market execution.

• Chinese brands like TCL and Hisense are rising fast, disrupting the premium TV segment.

• Samsung’s dominance stems from vertical integration, R&D investment, and global supply chain efficiency.

• Television technology is shifting toward AI, smart ecosystems, and experience-driven multifunctionality.

• Future growth depends on local adaptation, ecosystem integration, and brand differentiation beyond hardware.

In nearly every market where ICERTIAS conducts its Best Buy Award and QUDAL – Quality meDAL surveys, Samsung consistently emerges as the most trusted and preferred brand in the household television category. Year after year, in more than 40 countries across five continents, and among diverse cultures, income brackets, and age groups, consumers voice a remarkably consistent verdict: when it comes to televisions, Samsung delivers the most value for money and the highest perceived quality. These are not mere marketing slogans; they are insights driven by real consumer voting behavior in real markets. And they provide a powerful lens through which we can understand how Samsung has come to dominate the global television industry—and what lies ahead.
 

Where Samsung Reigns Supreme

As of 2024, Samsung holds approximately 28 percent of the global television market in total units sold and commands nearly 50 percent of the premium TV segment, making it the market leader both in volume and in value. Now in its 18th consecutive year at the top, Samsung's televisions are most dominant across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. In the United States and Canada, the brand is nearly synonymous with the television itself. In Western Europe, Samsung often tops the charts not only in sales but in customer satisfaction indices. In the Middle East, the brand benefits from its high-end positioning and reputation for quality, while in Australia and New Zealand, Samsung has outpaced regional players with strong supply chains and localized marketing.

Samsung’s success in these regions is no accident. It is the result of a meticulously executed global strategy combining aggressive research and development investment, vertical supply chain integration, brand marketing mastery, and above all, an obsessive focus on user experience. From crisp image quality to responsive smart TV interfaces, Samsung products are engineered to delight consumers—and that delight translates into long-term brand loyalty.
 

How Samsung Built Its Lead

To understand Samsung’s current dominance, we must look at the core pillars of its strategy. First and foremost is the company’s unwavering commitment to technological innovation. Samsung was among the earliest to bet on flat-screen LCD technology in the early 2000s, outpacing Japanese giants like Sony and Panasonic. It followed that with bold moves into QLED technology, eventually positioning it as a legitimate rival to LG’s OLED dominance.

Just as important has been Samsung’s control over its own supply chain. Through its subsidiary Samsung Display, the company manufactures a significant portion of the panels used in its televisions. This vertical integration has allowed it to reduce costs, streamline innovation cycles, and respond quickly to shifts in global demand.

Design and aesthetics also play a crucial role. Samsung has consistently invested in the physical look and feel of its products. From ultra-thin bezels to wall-hugging mounts and ambient display modes, Samsung TVs are as much about visual impact in the living room as they are about picture quality. Pair this with a global marketing and distribution apparatus that spans nearly every major electronics retail chain and e-commerce platform, and it’s clear how the brand has achieved ubiquity.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Samsung has built brand equity over decades of consistency. Consumers have come to associate the name with reliability, durability, and a premium-but-accessible ethos. The findings from ICERTIAS’s Best Buy Award and QUDAL studies reinforce this reputation at scale: people vote with their wallets and their confidence, and they are voting for Samsung.
 

The Shift in Momentum

Yet no empire is without its challengers. Samsung’s share in the premium segment has dropped notably from 41 percent in 2023 to 29 percent in 2024. The decline is not due to internal missteps but rather the ferocious rise of Chinese competitors like TCL and Hisense. These brands, once viewed as budget alternatives, have aggressively moved upmarket, deploying technologies like MiniLED, QLED, and increasingly even OLED to capture consumer attention.

TCL, in particular, is now the second-largest television brand in the world by unit sales and commands 20 percent of the premium TV segment globally—a stunning rise driven by a combination of price disruption, quality improvements, and strategic global expansion. Their televisions, often larger than those of Samsung at similar price points, are appealing to price-sensitive consumers who still want cutting-edge features.

Hisense, while smaller, has followed a similar trajectory, often undercutting both Samsung and TCL in emerging markets. Their aggressive presence in Latin America, Africa, and parts of Europe has started to chip away at Samsung’s traditional base. Meanwhile, LG continues to lead in OLED panel technology and is quietly sustaining a loyal high-end consumer base, especially among cinephiles and design-conscious buyers.
 

A Historical Perspective

To fully appreciate the current dynamics, we need to examine how the TV industry evolved over the last five decades. In 1975, American and European brands dominated. RCA, Zenith, Philips, Grundig, and Telefunken were household names. Japan was just starting to enter the fray with Sony’s revolutionary Trinitron CRT technology, which quickly set a new benchmark for picture clarity.

By 1995, Japanese companies were in full command. Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Sharp led the way in innovation and global market share. They defined the CRT and early LCD eras with products that combined engineering excellence with consumer-friendly designs. Korean companies like Samsung and LG were still relatively minor players.

In 2005, the landscape began to shift dramatically. As flat-panel LCD and plasma TVs replaced CRTs, Korean brands surged. Samsung in particular capitalized on this transition, leveraging both aggressive pricing and technological innovation to push ahead of its Japanese rivals.

By 2015, Samsung was firmly in control of the global market. LG was establishing itself as the OLED pioneer, while Japanese brands were retreating due to operational inefficiencies and missed technology bets. TCL and Hisense were beginning to scale, particularly in China and Southeast Asia, but hadn’t yet gone global.

Fast forward to 2020, and TCL’s rapid ascent became impossible to ignore. The brand captured significant market share in North America and began challenging Samsung’s dominance in Europe and Asia. Hisense followed close behind. By 2024, Samsung remained number one, but for the first time in two decades, its position was no longer unassailable.
 

Technology Today and Tomorrow

We now stand at another inflection point in television technology. The major innovation cycles of the last 20 years—LCD, LED, OLED, and QLED—are maturing. MiniLED offers a compelling bridge between affordability and high-end performance, and Samsung has embraced it aggressively. At the same time, the industry is investing heavily in MicroLED and Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) displays. MicroLED promises ultra-high brightness, perfect blacks, and infinite scalability, but remains prohibitively expensive for most consumers. QD-OLED, pioneered by Samsung Display and adopted by Sony, may offer a near-term step-change in visual quality at slightly more accessible prices.

Beyond display technologies, artificial intelligence is becoming a core component of the user experience. TVs are evolving into full-fledged smart hubs, capable of content recommendation, voice control, home automation integration, and even fitness tracking. Samsung’s Tizen OS and LG’s webOS are competing not just with each other but also with platform-agnostic operating systems like Google TV and Roku.

Cloud gaming, particularly through partnerships with services like Xbox Cloud and Nvidia GeForce Now, is turning TVs into low-latency gaming consoles. Integration with health ecosystems, virtual conferencing tools, and even ambient wellness features suggests a future where TVs are not just for watching—but for living.
 

What the Next Decade Holds

Looking ahead, the global television market will face both opportunities and limitations. In many mature markets, demand has plateaued. The replacement cycle for TVs is longer than for smartphones, and incremental technological improvements are no longer enough to trigger mass upgrades. This suggests that volume growth will be modest.

Instead, we will see a shift toward premiumization and platform differentiation. The brands that succeed will be those who create compelling, multi-functional ecosystems—where the television is just one part of a broader smart living environment. Samsung is well-positioned here, with its SmartThings ecosystem and deep investment in AI, but it cannot rest. The risk of commoditization is real, especially as Chinese competitors close the quality gap while retaining a cost advantage.

Emerging markets—especially India, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa—will be critical battlegrounds. Localized content strategies, pricing agility, and logistical efficiency will define success. If Samsung wishes to hold onto its crown globally, it must do more than innovate—it must localize, personalize, and digitize its entire customer engagement strategy.
 

The Weight of Leadership

ICERTIAS’s Best Buy Award and QUDAL studies reveal a deep reservoir of consumer trust in Samsung televisions. That trust has been earned over decades through engineering excellence, consistent delivery, and relentless innovation. But the global market is shifting. The loyalty of yesterday’s consumers does not guarantee the dominance of tomorrow.

Samsung must now defend its position not just against traditional rivals, but against an entire new generation of agile, aggressive, and well-funded challengers. To do so, it must reimagine what the television can be in an age where attention is fragmented and expectations are skyrocketing.

The television of 2030 will not be judged by its pixels alone. It will be evaluated by its intelligence, its integration, and its ability to anticipate human needs. In that world, only brands that combine technological mastery with consumer empathy will thrive.