IHS: One-Third of U.S. Households Will Have 4K TVs in 2019

TOKYO: 4K TV household penetration in the U.S. is forecast to reach 34 percent in 2019, according to the latest information from the IHS TV Sets Intelligence Service.

4K TV household penetration in the European Union is expected to reach 25 percent in 2019. Growing availability of UHD content from internet and pay-TV providers will support this trend. Switzerland is expected to reach 32 percent penetration in 2019, followed closely by the U.K., at 31 percent.

In Japan, which is a developed premium TV market, only 14 percent of all households are expected to have a 4K TV in 2019 (as most households already have relatively new TVs). Consumer adoption of 4K TVs in China is expected to be relatively high, with household penetration reaching 24 percent in 2019. In other emerging countries, where many households either have smaller LCD TVs or CRT TVs, 4K penetration will be lower: 11 percent in Russia, 8 percent in Brazil and 2 percent in India.

“With the Japanese consumer preference for smaller TV screens, it will be more difficult for 4K TV to expand its household penetration in the country, even though UHD broadcasts are set to begin in 2018, in the run up to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020,” said Hisakazu Torii, the senior director of consumer device research for IHS Technology.