Sharp Will Push Several 8K TVs During The Year, Pushing Down Prices For Anti-OLED
May 18, 2018
Nikkei News, SankeiBiz and other Japanese media reported that Sharp’s reinvested Sharp’s TV business briefing held in Handan’s headquarters on the 16th revealed that it plans to launch a variety of 8K TV products this year, in addition to the existing ones. Some 70-inch models will also introduce 60-inch and 80-inch models, and will introduce models with built-in receivers (tuners).
Sharp launched the world's first 8K TV (70-inch model) in China in October 2017, and then later inducted into Japan in December of the same year. Currently, it has been sold in the Taiwan region of China and the European market. The 70-inch 8K TV that Sharp has currently sold does not have a built-in tuner.
Japan’s NHK is expected to start broadcasting 8K programs in December 2018. Regarding the opening hours of the above-mentioned 8K new models, Sharp TV System Business Division Director Kitamura and Foreign stated at the TV business briefing on the 16th, “It will start. One month before the broadcast (November), the sale was started. Regarding the selling price, Kitamura and Yang pointed out that "the price of a 60-inch model (without built-in tuner) is expected to be reduced to half the level of the current 70-inch models."
Sharp's current 70-inch 8K TV is priced at about 1 million yen, while Kitamura and Ocean's remarks indicate that the price of a 60-inch 8K TV will be reduced to about 500,000 yen. Kitamura and Yang stated that "the sales volume of 8K TVs in 2017 (April 2017 to March 2018) is higher than the target value."
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported that Sharp's competitors have successively launched OLED TVs with a price of about 500,000 yen, so Sharp plans to lower the minimum price of 8K TVs to the same level (500,000 yen) to counter OLED TVs. According to reports, 8K television products (60-inch, 70-inch, and 80-inch) that Sharp plans to launch during the year are expected to start selling in Japan, China, and Europe in November.
The Nikkei reported that Sharp plans to increase its 8K-related business revenues, including cameras, to 300 billion yen by 2020 in the Tokyo Olympics. The key lies in the Chinese market. The British investigation company IHS Markit pointed out that in 2021 global 8K TV shipments, the Chinese market will account for more than 70%. China is the world’s largest TV market, and under Hon Hai’s aid, Sharp’s sense of presence in the Chinese market has risen sharply. In 2017, Sharp's global TV sales exceeded 10 million units, which is about twice the level in 2016. The Chinese market has doubled its sales to about 4 million units, and its market share has risen to 7%.
Sharp fell 0.78% on the 16th to close at 3,200 yen. Sharp's share price has fallen by 17.31% so far this year, far below the 0.95% decline in the index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
