Text/Zhiwu
On June 28, in the 1/8 finals of the European Cup, the Czech Republic created the biggest upset in this cup with its goal in the 79th minute, shot The lonely figure of the former Dutch player made the billboard on the sidelines particularly conspicuous, "Laser TV, No. 1 in the world."
The simple and crude eight characters are unforgettable, but this slogan obviously lacks a subject. Is China’s laser TV number one in the world? Or is Hisense the number one advertiser in the world?
If combined with market data, the subject of this sentence is true no matter who it is. According to Omdia data, in the fourth quarter of 2020, Chinese brands represented by Hisense, Changhong, and Xiaomi accounted for nearly 60% of global laser TV shipments, and Hisense laser TV accounted for 53% of global shipments in 2020. %.
Recently, Gao Yuling, chairman of Hisense Laser, said, “After two and seven years of hard work, Hisense-led laser TV has made great progress in product innovation, market position, patent layout, standard setting, consumer recognition, etc. In terms of technology, it has achieved the unquestionable number one position in the world.”
But the question is, does Hisense only need to face competitors in the laser TV industry?
Laser TV, what’s the difference?
Regarding laser TV, Hisense has put a lot of effort into it.
As early as 2007, Hisense began the development of laser TV and received support from projects such as the 863 Project. However, in the context of only understanding the working principle, Hisense did not even develop a laser TV in the first four years. To determine the technical route for laser TV, it was not until 2011 that Hisense completed the experimental work of laser light source + ultra-short throw lens + anti-light screen.
Looking back on the past several display technology upgrades, domestic display manufacturers have basically had a track record in product development due to their late start. However, in the field of laser TV, they have not been successfully implemented internationally. Due to the precedent of commercialization, Hisense can only choose to be the "first to eat crabs".
It is true that laser TVs and projectors are diffuse reflections in terms of basic imaging principles, but their core devices and technical routes are completely different.
The light source components of traditional projectors are mostly xenon lamps or LEDs, which leads to two inherent defects: short service life and insufficient brightness. Laser TV uses a three-primary monochromatic laser with higher power as the light source. Its brightness meter, color performance, saturation, and light source life are all significantly ahead of projectors.
In addition, the screen of a traditional projector is a soft curtain, which is significantly affected by ambient light. Therefore, the projector can only be used in dark light conditions most of the time, while the screen equipped with a laser TV It is a special anti-light diaphragm that still performs well even under direct exposure to external light sources.
Civilian market or commercial market?
In 2016, Hisense launched the L6 and S6 series 4K laser TVs, which quickly entered the market with the advantages of ultra-short throw to save storage space, the image being reflected into the human eye to provide eye protection, and no size restrictions. consumer market and drive the development of the entire industry.
Data from Aowei Cloud Network shows that from 2016 to 2020, the compound growth rate of laser TV was as high as 213.8%. Even during the epidemic, laser TV sales have not been affected too much. According to the "2021 China Laser TV Development Report", domestic laser TV shipments in the first quarter of 2020 were 47,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 54%, becoming the only TV category to achieve positive growth after the epidemic.
As the leader of laser TV in China, Hisense invested heavily during this European Cup and received corresponding returns. Its official data shows that Hisense U7 and U8 series TVs increased by 205.4% year-on-year in the top 5 European markets of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Western Europe. The European Cup group stage supported the domestic 618 promotion activities, causing Hisense Laser TV 6.1-6.18 sales to increase by 465% year-on-year.
Although the market growth is astonishing, the problem of a small laser TV user base is still an obstacle that is difficult to overcome.
According to statistics from Luotu Technology, the laser TV market shipments in mainland China in 2020 reached 212,000 units. This user volume is difficult to have a substantial impact on the huge TV market.
But on the other hand, the penetration rate of laser projection products that are positioned closer to the B-end is rising due to the benefits of laser display technology. Qunzhi Consulting data shows that despite the rapid growth of laser TV, However, the technology is significantly smaller than that of laser projection. In 2019, the sales volume of laser projection was 120.3% higher than that of laser TV.
Zhiyan Consulting predicts that the laser TV market size will exceed 7.87 billion yuan in 2026, and the laser projection market will exceed 27.49 billion yuan. It is expected that laser projection will become the main market composition of laser products.
To sum up, laser TV manufacturers represented by Hisense may change their strategies in the future and make laser projection the focus of their product layout. However, for these manufacturers who started in the home appliance industry, they will never Significantly reduce the weight of laser TV.
03. Nothing can be discussed unless costs are reduced
At Hisense TV’s company shareholder exchange meeting in June, Hisense stated that the company’s current laser TV products can be beaten in terms of quality. 99 points, the only problems now are flash and cost.
Flash, that is, the reflection formed on the ceiling due to the refraction of light during projection, is not an intolerable pain point for consumers.
But the cost issue is indeed the biggest obstacle affecting the popularity of laser TV.
According to information from Hisense’s official website, its laser TVs have basically covered the price range of 11,999 yuan to 99,999 yuan. However, this price obviously does not meet the psychological expectations of most consumers, and its competitiveness is relatively insufficient.
Take Hisense's 75L9S model as an example. The size of this model is 75 inches and the price is 11,999 yuan. The price of LCD TVs of the same size is generally in the 5,000-7,000 yuan range. If the price of 11,999 yuan is used as the standard, then this price is enough to buy a TCL Mini LED backlight TV.
The solution to this dilemma is nothing more than two points: scale and localization.
At present, all components including light source lasers, lenses, chips, etc. have room for localization and cost reduction. Hisense also said that in the future, it may consider using Hisense's own chips to make this component costing several hundred dollars. The price is reduced to tens of dollars.
However, it is still unknown how much the cost can be reduced in the future. Even if the price is reduced to the same level as LCD TVs, LCD TVs still have advantages in brightness, contrast, and dynamic tracking that laser TVs do not have. , and under the premise that the TV market is relatively saturated, laser TVs have to face competition with LCD TVs.
Looking back at the development history of LCD TV, it took less than 10 years to complete the unification of the TV market, because its various display indicators are incomparable to CRT or plasma and other display technologies. It almost has a crushing advantage.
Laser TV does not have this disruptive change at this stage.
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