Giant screens, AI and the Chinese surge: how television is changing

BERLIN – The television market is not growing, but television is changing. In the first five months of 2026, according to GfK data, sales fell by 2.2 per cent in value terms, reflecting the 1.9 per cent decline in the consumer electronics sector. Within a stagnant and mature sector, however, the premium and large-screen segments are clearly on the move, with 55-inch, 65-inch and larger screens driving demand. The television therefore seems to have found a new way to evolve, capitalising on screen size, panel technology and AI-driven features. It is a challenge on several fronts, and within this challenge, the leadership of Korean brands is no longer a given, with Chinese manufacturers hot on their heels. Some figures. In Italia, in the first half of this year, Hisense overtook LG in the rankings by volume (whilst remaining third by value), whilst in the global Mini LED TV segment, Omdia’s figures project TCL will hold a 31 per cent share by volume by the end of 2025, ahead of Hisense itself (with 25 per cent) and Samsung, which has fallen from 76 per cent in 2022 to 19 per cent last year. In short, ‘Made in China’ TVs no longer compete solely on the basis of price and manufacturing capabilities, but are gaining ground in terms of technology, large-screen formats and brand strength. And TCL and Hisense, with Haier hot on their heels, are the symbol of a new era on the rise.

“In Italia, we are still perceived as an emerging brand, but in terms of production we have made huge strides over the last five or six years,” explains Nicola Micali, Senior Go-to-Market Manager at TCL Italy, to *Il Sole 24 Ore*. These strides have been made through its subsidiary CSOT (China Star Optoelectronics Technology), by completing acquisitions in the LCD sector (including some LG Display factories) and establishing an increasingly vertically integrated position within the panel supply chain; today, the television remains TCL’s flagship product (pending the effects, from 2027, of the 51 per cent acquisition of Sony’s home entertainment division, which also includes Bravia TVs), particularly in the giant-screen segment, a sector in which the landscape has changed radically. In 2022, as Micali pointed out, fewer than 100 units were sold; by 2025, sales had exceeded 10,000, whilst for 75- and 85-inch models, figures rose from a few thousand to around 180,000 units. These figures illustrate a clear trend: the ability to produce ever-larger panels at sustainable costs is becoming a key competitive advantage and is helping to drive down the price of technologies that, until a few years ago, were the preserve of the highest-end market segments. The rise of Chinese manufacturers is also confirmed by Gianluca Di Pietro, Managing Director of Hisense Italia, who is quick to emphasise that “Chinese televisions now boast an increasingly significant level of innovation”. After all, it is Hisense that has produced the 116-inch mega TV featuring Mini LED RGB technology, launched in October 2025 and currently on sale for around 14,000 euros. Samsung and LG, for their part, maintain a strong position in high-value-added segments, and the Seoul-based company’s response, in particular, also involves a new technological push, with Micro RGB chosen as one of the cornerstones of its 2026 range. “We are convinced that leadership is built by creating value over time, not by chasing the competition on price,” notes Bruno Marnati, Vice President of Audio Video at Samsung Electronics Italia, setting the stage for a contest that will largely hinge on panel technology and visual performance (brightness, contrast and colour accuracy). TCL has staked its claim on SQD Mini LED and a backlighting system which, according to the company’s stated specifications, reaches 10,000 nits and features over 20,000 local dimming zones in its top-of-the-range X11L model. Samsung is firmly banking on Micro RGB, whilst for Hisense, as Di Pietro argues, this technology is still in its infancy, a sort of technical/stylistic exercise that will be discussed from 2030 onwards, when total sales of TVs based on the RGB LED standard (again according to Omdia) could surpass those of OLEDs in terms of volume.

Artificial intelligence built into televisions has two impacts: one functional (already evident in the set’s capabilities), the other (as yet barely noticeable) on costs. The first truly noticeable effect, at least for now, is not so much linked to the extensive integration of algorithms but manifests itself upstream, at the component level. The demand for AI, Micali points out, “is absorbing production capacity and driving up the costs of DRAM and NAND memory, and this is leading us to increase prices across all product ranges, including the smallest and most affordable ones”. This pressure is also noted by Di Pietro of Hisense, who argues that artificial intelligence “is not having such a significant impact on the cost of the finished product as certain components and logistics costs are”. AI may therefore become a feature increasingly sought after by consumers without, for the time being, being the cause of rising list prices, and it can continue to transform the TV in terms of functionality accessible via remote control or voice commands. TCL announced in recent weeks the integration of Google Gemini into its models, whilst Samsung speaks of a possible “different kind of interaction” with the device and its content, whilst noting, however, that it is still too early to assess the effects of this new user experience. “AI,” Marnati points out, “marks the transition from smart devices to a smart environment.” In short, the new TV still has plenty of room for development, and for manufacturers, the crux of the matter is clear: the winner will be whoever can most swiftly turn innovation into a desirable, mass-producible, functional and affordable product.