Text | Kevin Sheh
Source | Intelligent Relativity (aixdlun)
Recently, media reported that Huawei’s 8K-enhanced high-definition TV will be launched in September this year . Since Huawei announced its entry into TVs at its Ecosystem Conference last year, news about Huawei TVs has been appearing frequently.
8K is currently the hottest technology in the entire industry. In the past six months, whenever TV manufacturers hold press conferences or product promotions, 8K will become a factor that cannot be mentioned.
There are currently big differences in the market’s views on 8K TVs. Some people think that 8K is an actual market demand, while others think that 8K is just a gimmick by manufacturers. However, these opinions cannot change 8K in any case. The fact that television has arrived.
2019, the first year of 8K?
2018 was originally regarded as the first year of 8K by the industry, but obviously the "first year" was not round, and of course 2019 has high hopes.
In addition to Huawei, big players in the original industry such as Sharp, Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, TCL, etc. are all laying out 8K. Compared with the previous advent of 4K, the "thunder" of 8K is louder, but the "raindrops" are still missing.
In the industry, Sharp can be said to be one of the earliest players in the 8K field. As early as 2013, Sharp demonstrated an 85-inch 8K TV product at the CES show in the United States. At that time, manufacturers such as Samsung and LG were still competing for 4K.
But it was just a display. It was not until the 2017 IFA show that Sharp launched two 8K resolution TVs, 70-inch and 85-inch. In September of the same year, Sharp released its first TVs simultaneously in many places around the world. The SX970, the first mass-produced 8K TV, was the first to announce its entry into the 8K era.
Compared with Sharp, Samsung is much slower. In 2013, Samsung just launched their 4K TV, but its development speed in the 8K field can be regarded as the fastest among the brands. In 2018 At the 2018 German IFA, Samsung released its first 8K TV, announcing that Samsung had officially entered the 8K market.
In less than half a year, at the beginning of this year, Samsung announced its quantum dot 8K processor chip to achieve visual improvements in non-8K film sources. After that, it continued its previous strategy of fast forward and fast. A new QLED8K TV was launched in China in March. Recently, a large number of Samsung 8K series product promotions can be seen in various news channels. Samsung is currently one of the most vocal players in the industry.
After Sharp and Samsung, we can also see the presence of many players, such as TCL, which has also been making constant moves this year and has frequently appeared in major exhibitions, and Sony, which is regarded as a true technology leader.
Except for Huawei, which has entered the 8K market in a relatively short period of time, other companies have basically completed the phased implementation of their 8K TV products. The same scale, the same popularity, the last time it appeared in the TV industry was when the 4K concept was in full swing, but in just a few years, 4K seems to be unable to satisfy the appetite of manufacturers.
As for why each company has put its own 8K products on the market this year. Data show that in 2018, China, as the world's largest 4K TV market, had a retail sales share of 73.14% and a retail volume share of more than 50%, indicating that it has entered the popularization stage. Moreover, 4K TV still maintains a high growth rate, with retail sales and retail volume growth rates of 18.99 and 44.51 respectively.
And some institutions predict that the global 4K TV market share will exceed 50% in 2019.
Perhaps it is because the rapid success of 4K has given manufacturers confidence to strike while the iron is hot, so they have focused on 8K to seize the next wave of industry commanding heights. Or they may hope that 8K can continue the success of 4K as soon as possible.
4K embarrassment may continue to occur
Although the superficial results of 4K TV are good, in fact, the industry is far from being as good as it looks on the outside, and there are still many problems. Now these problems may be solved. Continuing on 8K products.
1. It’s hard to make food without rice
The serious lack of ecology is a shortcoming that has existed since the development of 4K TV.
When 4K is upgraded to 8K, the requirements for hardware support from the initial shooting to later storage and transmission become more stringent.
The hardware level cannot keep up, or the price is high, which naturally inhibits the development of the content ecosystem.
The earliest promotion of 4K TV in China was around 2013, but it was not until October 2018 that CCTV opened the first high-definition 4K channel, and before that there was no 4K content to watch. Even now, apart from CCTV, only some platforms have a small amount of 4K content available for viewing. So what is the actual significance of previous consumer purchases?
There is a saying in the smartphone industry that "what consumers are currently using is no longer mobile phones, but the product ecology inside the mobile phones, such as APPs." This view is also applicable to the TV industry. What kind of The TV itself is not important, what is important is the content. Now the TV industry has entered a "technical theory" and only improves for the sake of improvement. 8K does not bring additional value.
2. Poverty limits 8K
When 4K TVs first came out, their domestic prices were generally as high as tens of thousands of yuan, making it difficult for the market to accept. The most well-known equipment is undoubtedly Sony Z9D, just because Wang Sicong, the son of Wanda, spent 500,000 yuan to buy one in 2017, made it popular on the Internet.
However, the price of 500,000 yuan for a TV is not the "most expensive". The 98-inch 8K high-definition TV announced by Samsung is priced at 999,999 yuan. If it is because of the large screen size, the price "Beyond the budget", then Samsung also has a low-end 65-inch model priced at "only" 35,999 yuan.
Compared with other 65-inch TVs, its price is nearly 10 times higher.
Although Sony’s 98-inch 8K TV is priced in half compared to Samsung, it still costs 529,999.
Even if TCL released an 8K TV not long ago and is regarded as a company that really wants to sell products, its 75-inch 8K TV is priced at 49,999 yuan in China.
The reason why 8K TVs are so expensive is because they cannot break through the technology cost. For example, if panel technology does not break through 8K, the price will remain high. The pixel density of 8K LCD panels is four times that of 4K. In terms of array, exposure and other processes There are challenges in all aspects. 8K LCD panels can only be produced on a small scale at this stage and cannot reach the level of large-scale mass production. The immature supply chain will hold back the price of 8K TVs.
3. Single product value preservation
"Single product value preservation" is a concept that is increasingly valued by consumers in the fashion circle.
There are several understandings of "single product value preservation". One is that the product is popular for a long time; the other is that the product is popular for a short time, but will become popular again after a period of time; the third is that the product unit price maintains value. The concept of single product value preservation applies not only to fashion and trendy products, but also to other categories.
For example, among the many mobile phone products in the past, why Apple mobile phones were so popular in the market, its unit price preservation was an important factor.
Originally, TV products were also suitable for "single product value preservation", but with the promotion of technology, product updates and iterations are getting faster and faster. In the CRT era, consumers will replace their TVs on average every 10-15 years. HD and 4K have accelerated the replacement cycle. Some institutional research data shows that the current global TV replacement cycle is about seven years. However, 4K has stabilized and 8K has come out. The industry seems to want to continue to promote the shortening of the replacement cycle, but this This approach has greatly reduced the shelf life of the product, just as the concept of 8K is now replacing 4K, and the latter has just gained a firm foothold in the market.
As for "circular value", it is obvious that it will not be reflected in smart hardware devices. The development of smart hardware products is a linear single-lane road and there is absolutely no way to turn around.
Finally, regarding "unit price preservation", the development history of 4K products can be seen. From birth to popularization, the price difference of products has reached 5-10 times, and this phenomenon will continue with 8K products.
Who is competing with whom in the competition for 8k?
So under the premise that the ecology, technology and even the market are immature, various manufacturers still enter the so-called 8K game?
First of all, although 8K technology is not yet mature, it represents the highest technology in the industry now and even in the future. Each company is adding more technology, which is nothing more than a display of strength, that is, "showing off muscles" ".
At this stage, the overall TV industry market is not optimistic. After experiencing a wave of substantial growth in 2014, TV sales have been fluctuating between positive and negative in recent years. The industry as a whole has already hit the market ceiling. The market game of each company has become a "zero-sum game". While its own sales are growing, it must be based on the decrease in the market share of other manufacturers. The situation of more monks and less meat is obvious.
The 8K technology gives each player an opportunity to show their strength, and it is also a reflection of brand value. Whether the product can actually be sold or not is not the key. The key is that I "have it", and when other competitors are entering the market, I can't live without it. In fact, this is also a manifestation of the industry's "conceptualism".
Secondly, the industry needs new growth points. In 2014, the TV industry ushered in a growth of more than 7%, which was when 4K products were put into the market. Although 4K is still embarrassed, it has also entered a stable popularization stage, and it is difficult to bring about large growth again. There are 4K TV players ahead. Even if 8K products are unlikely to be sold on a large scale based on the current situation, the industry has given it some hope that 8K will leverage the market and bring about a new round of growth.
Finally, it is based on the 5G network that is about to be launched. The implementation of 5G will solve link, transmission and other problems for 8K TV. Under the 5G network, perhaps the 8K ecosystem will be compensated.
And 5G may lead to a wave of replacement of smart hardware devices, and TVs have always been regarded as the core equipment at the entrance of IoT homes. 8K TVs meet the hardware needs of smart terminals under 5G networks. For example, Huawei has chosen to enter the 8K market. The field is inseparable from its 5G business.
Not only Huawei, but also mainstream domestic mobile phone manufacturers are also planning to enter the color TV market. For example, OPPO acquired more than 20 patents from the American audio giant Dolby Laboratories. Some analysts believe that this is a prelude to OPPO’s intention to enter the audio-visual field. Vivo is also rumored to be evaluating and researching the TV market. Enabled by 5G, the linkage between mobile devices and smart homes may become a new interaction model in the future.