Omdia: TV Shipments Increase 6% in 1Q26 as 2026 World Cup Inventory Build-Up Begins

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global TV shipments increased 6% year-on-year (YoY) to 50.3 million units in 1Q26, as retailers increased inventory ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup, according to data from Omdia’s latest TV Sets (Emerging Technologies) Market Tracker: History – 1Q26. All regions grew YoY except for Mainland China, which continues to face weak local demand following domestic stimulus measures in 2025.

Developing economies and North America propel global growth

The two fastest growing regions in the first quarter of 2026 were both considered developing economies, with Asia & Oceania (up 13%) and Latin America (up 12%) benefitting from Chinese vendors redirecting additional shipments into these regions as their domestic market remained weak.

North America also posted particularly strong shipment growth (up 11%), despite being a highly saturated market. A combination of factors contributed to this growth, particularly in the U.S. As a co-host of this year’s World Cup, the US market offers retailers a clear opportunity to promote TV sets aggressively. At the same time, competition among retailers remains intense. This is most clearly seen with Walmart, which has a strategic goal of increasing the reach of Vizio OS, available on Onn. and Vizio TVs, and generating advertising-derived revenue without relying on hardware sales for profitability.

These factors have helped ensure that North American consumers remain largely insulated from the increased memory prices affecting a wide range of consumer electronics goods. Globally, TV prices have also remained surprisingly stable, despite headline-grabbing increases in memory price. This reflects the highly competitive nature of the TV market and the shift in profit-generating momentum away from hardware and toward advertising.

RGB LED adoption accelerates

Omdia’s latest database now tracks RGB LED TVs, which are initially expected to compete directly with OLED TVs because both technologies carry premium price tags. While RGB based TVs represented only a small proportion of units in the first quarter of 2026, with just 39.4 thousand units shipped, the technology is set to play an increasingly important role through 2026 and in the coming years. This will be supported by more vendors introducing models and the potential for RGB LED technology to be used in mid-range TVs, similar to the adoption path of Mini LED technology.

“The Chinese market leads the adoption of RGB LED TVs, but this is primarily due to the early introduction of models from TCL and Hisense, ahead of international regions,” said Matthew Rubin, Research Manager, TV Set Research, Omdia. “With many more models being introduced ahead of the World Cup, shipment volume of this technology is expected to accelerate rapidly.”

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