The Q8F is the flat screen counterpart to the previously launched curved screen lineup Q8C. Samsung is expanding its QLED TV line-up in Europe as it seeks to solidify its leading position in the global premium TV market. The new 43-inch version of The Frame combines both technology and art to provide consumers with design value that enables them to personalize and elevate smaller living spaces.

“We are proud to introduce a flat version of the Q8 in response to demand from European consumers seeking premium, flat and mid-size TVs,” said Sang-ho Cho, Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our extended QLED TV lineup as well as 43-inch version of The Frame ushers in new possibilities for televisions with their innovative technology and beautiful design, reflecting consumer lifestyles.”

Fortifying its Leading Position in the Premium TV Market

With the addition of the Q8F models, Samsung’s 2017 QLED TV lineup in Europe has been expanded to 14 models. Samsung’s offering, with the Q9, Q8, and Q7 QLED TV models, represents the most comprehensive line-up of premium TVs ranging from 49 to 88-inches in size and includes eight flat and six curved screen sets. The Q8F models, in particular, are the first flat screen models in Samsung’s QLED TV Q8 line-up.

Using metal quantum dot technology, Samsung QLED TVs produce the most accurate colors regardless of scene brightness level. This unique characteristic was verified with a “100 percent Color Volume” by VDE (Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker), the global standard certificate authority in Germany. The QLED TV’s Invisible Connection, a transparent optical cable that is only 1.8 mm in diameter, eliminates the tangled clutter of cables, and its No Gap Wall-mount allows the television to be mounted flush against a wall and fit seamlessly into various spaces.

The new 43-inch model of The Frame completes the lifestyle TV’s lineup, which currently consists of 55- and 65-inch models. Through its Art Mode function, The Frame, in addition to serving as a TV, doubles as a home décor element displaying both works of art as well as personal photographs. Through The Frame’s Art Store, users will soon be able to access about 1,000 prominent art pieces from world famous galleries and museums including the LUMAS, Saatchi Art, Sedition and Prado Museum.

The Q8F models will be immediately available following its introduction at IFA, and the 43-inch version of The Frame will be available in Europe starting in October, with the products to be introduced elsewhere on a phased basis. The new Q8F is available at a suggested retail price of EUR 2,599 (55-inch) and EUR 3,599 (65-inch), and the 43-inch The Frame at EUR 1,499.

Catching the Eyes of IFA Attendees with Enhanced HDR10+ Technologies

Samsung will demonstrate its QLED and HDR10+ TV technologies at the QLED and HDR10 Summit, which is being co-hosted by display market research publisher Insight Media. HDR10+ provides unprecedented picture quality for displays with brightness, color and contrast automatically optimized for each scene. The Summit will detail how with HDR10+ dynamic tone mapping, every scene is individually enhanced to bring-to-life vibrant visuals and colors that allow viewers to enjoy content just the way the filmmaker or director intended.

At the Summit, Samsung will also discuss its new partnership with 20th Century Fox and Panasonic Corporation to create an open, royalty-free dynamic metadata platform for HDR10+. The three companies will form a licensing entity in January 2018 and offer royalty-free metadata to content companies, UHD TV, Blu-ray players/recorders and set-top box manufacturers, as well as SoC (System on Chip) vendors.

“Our goal is always to provide consumers with the best possible viewing experience through the latest technology and innovation,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “With our latest advanced HDR10+ technology and QLED TV, we hope to make enhanced picture quality with richer colors and deeper contrast easily accessible to users across a variety of content.”

As discussed in an earlier edition of the THIS IS QLED TV series (Part 2), premium TVs worth more than $1,500 account for just five percent of total TV sales, but have a much larger business impact, accounting for 20 percent of sales revenue and 40 percent of profits.

Attendees at a QLED TV launch event in June 2017, in Brazil, take in the display’s immersive visuals.

Samsung Has Over 40% of Market Share in Most Regions

According to Samsung’s own statistics, Samsung TVs maintained their first place standing in the over-$1,500 global premium TV market in the second quarter of 2017, with more than 40 percent of market share by sales volume in all the major global markets, except China, where it was number one but with around 30 percent market share. Samsung’s market share remained above 40 percent in North America and Europe, the major battlegrounds of the global TV market. Samsung TV also recorded approximately 50 percent market share in Central and South America, and a higher percentage than all other competitors combined in the Middle East, CIS, African and Korean markets.

Samsung launched its flagship premium QLED TV in 2017, starting in North America in March. Samsung’s QLED TV, which combines great picture quality and lifestyle design, has led the outstanding performance of Samsung premium TV all over the world. In particular, Samsung’s share in North America’s high-end TV market, including QLED TVs, has increased sharply over the previous quarter.

Strengthening Samsung’s Premium Image with Glocalization Strategies

Samsung is pursuing local and global strategies which provide customized services tailored to each region while delighting TV consumers around the world with differentiated benefits. Samsung offers a five-year display warranty and a 10-year burn-in guarantee for all 2017 QLED TV products*. This guarantee period is much longer than the usual TV warranty period of one to two years, and stems from Samsung’s confidence in the display durability of its technology in terms of image retention and burn-in.

Additionally, Samsung has added its new “All Care Protection” function this year in hot and humid regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia. This function goes a step further than the existing “Triple Protect” technology which protects the TV against lightning, moisture and abnormal voltage. All Care Protection further enhances the longevity of Samsung’s TVs by preventing dust and insects from getting inside the set.

Samsung is also providing a Connected TV service in Southwest Asia, including India, which enables users to view photos and videos from their smartphones on a large screen TV even without an internet connection. Another new service is Samsung Family TV 2.0 in China, which allows users to send text messages, photos and emoticons to their parents’ TVs via their smartphones using QQ, the country’s top mobile messenger.

Samsung offers a five-year display warranty and a 10-year burn-in guarantee for each of its 2017 QLED TVs.

Expanding Its Selection of Premium TVs

Samsung offers three types of QLED TVs with the Q7, Q8 and Q9 models that come in different shapes (flat and curved) and sizes ranging from 49 to 88 inches. The company plans to provide an even broader selection to global premium TV consumers by expanding the models available in each product line in the second half of the year.

In addition, Samsung’s “The Frame” has recently come onto the global market, equipped with a unique appearance reminiscent of a picture frame and an artificial intelligence (AI)-based display. Alongside the QLED TV, The Frame is leading Samsung’s growth in the premium TV market. The company will unveil more details about its market-leading premium TVs at the IFA 2017 exhibition starting on September 1, 2017, in Germany.

“As we enter the UHD TV era, consumers are demanding a screen wider than 60 inches and a clearer picture without image retention or burn-in,” said Jong seok Choo, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “In the second half of this year, we will expand the QLED TV and The Frame product lines to further strengthen our position in the premium TV market, which is the main battlefield in today’s TV market.”

Seeing Samsung’s The Frame hung on a wall begs the question: Is it a work of art or a television?

*Details of the guarantee for 2017 QLED TVs vary by country, and the policy will gradually be introduced to other countries as the QLED TV is launched in each market.

A big screen TV is one of the most talked-about items among Korean consumers as well. On Korean online communities, many consumers show excitement for home theater and indicate that they would prefer to stay home and watch 4K movies, instead of going to a movie theater. Others think that construction companies will soon start to sell apartments with a 100-inch or larger TV installed on a wall.

TVs Are Getting Bigger

There is an emerging trend toward larger TVs in the global market. According to several research firms, the average TV size around the world has reached larger than 40-inches as of 2016. That is the biggest average TV size in the history of the market. By 2020, that number is expected to increase to the high forties. The trend is even clearer in some places, such as North America and China. In fact, the average TV size in those markets is expected to be close to 50-inches by then.

Big screen TVs, 50-inch and larger products, are becoming a major trend among consumers worldwide. A quarter of TVs sold in the global market last year were in this category, making up more than half of the total sales. Indeed, the big buck is going toward big screen TVs.

UHD Era Means Going Even Bigger

In 2015, Samsung Newsroom published the article, ‘Hot tips for buying a cool TV’, where we talked about TV size and viewing distance. The best size of a Full HD (FHD) TV is calculated by multiplying 25 by the viewing distance. As for Ultra HD (UHD) TV, multiply by 39. For instance, if the viewing distance is 2 meters, a 78-inch UHD TV is the best choice.

Why should a UHD TV be 1.5 times bigger than a FHD TV? There is a big difference in resolution. A UHD TV has 8 times higher resolution than an HD TV, and 4 times that of a FHD TV. In other words, the number of pixels on an UHD TV is a lot higher than an HD or FHD TV. That is why TV viewers can enjoy clearer images with richer colors that look almost like a real image on a UHD TV without their eyes getting tired easily.

Samsung, the Major Player Leading the Home Theater Era

Samsung has played a leading role in the large screen TV industry for a while. A decade ago from today, it has already launched the 50-inch LCD TV in 2006, and sold the world’s first 70-inch LCD TV in 2007.

As a pioneer of the big screen TV trend, Samsung has recorded a solid market share in the global large screen TV market. According to market research firm NPD, 47.6 percent of 60-inch and larger TVs sold in in the U.S. during the first quarter was a Samsung product¹. The company also recorded that a very similar numerical value in market share was made in the European markets, solidifying Samsung’s position as a leader in the global premium TV market.

Samsung launched the world’s first 70-inch LCD TV and LCD display in 2007. At the time, the TV was about 59 million won (about 51,000 USD)

Samsung’s efforts continue this year as it launches a variety of big screen TV products, giving the consumer an ever wider selection to choose from. Samsung recently launched the 82-inch 2017 UHD TV after introducing 49, 55, 65, and 75 inch models previously. Samsung also launched its 55 and 65-inch QLED TV, Samsung’s premium TV model, followed by a 75-inch version in May. In August, Samsung plans to launch an 88-inch Q9 QLED TV, a model that will lead the big screen market.

“Samsung’s big screen TV products are ahead of their competitors,” said HS Kim, the President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “They are made with the highest ranked technology in the industry and feature design elements that blend in with our lifestyle, giving consumers a whole new home theater experience that they have never seen before.”

The Samsung QLED TV 75-inch models – the Q8, Q9 and Q7

¹The NPD Group, Inc., Retail Tracking Service, U.S., Color Television, Based on dollar volume sales, Jan 2017 – Mar 2017

For example, when most manufacturers showcase their wares at CES, the world’s biggest consumer electronics tradeshow, they highlight offerings that target the premium segment of the TV market. But why exactly do TV manufacturers compete so fiercely to cater to such a small selection of consumers?

Premium TVs: A Golden Goose for Manufacturers

Although premium TVs account for just five percent of global sales, for many manufacturers they are a golden goose, accounting for roughly 20 percent of total revenue and 40 percent of total profits. In other words, if a manufacturer was to lose ground in premium TVs, it would most likely lose out on the entire market.

Just three years ago, most TVs targeted at the premium sector carried price tags of over $1,500. Today, fierce competition has lowered prices, which means consumers can easily find premium TVs at a base price for $1,200. Don’t let the markdowns fool you, though; premium TVs are still, on average, more than twice the price of most TVs on the market.

A Leader in the Premium Sector

Over the past several years, Samsung Electronics has established itself as a leader in premium TV innovations. This year’s launch of QLED TV, Samsung’s flagship TV line, will reinforce its position as a leader in this area.

Last year, Samsung accounted for 47 percent of sales of TVs priced at over $1,500, and 48 percent of TVs priced at over $1,200, respectively. In other words, Samsung products represent half of the total number of premium TVs in the global market today.

In addition, in the first quarter of this year, Samsung recorded a 60 percent share in the US market for TVs priced at over $1,500, which is higher than the respective shares of all of its competitors combined.

Samsung’s position is solid in European market as well, where it garnered a market share of over 40 percent during the same period. The company has also firmly established its position as a leading manufacturer of premium TVs in China, the largest market in the world. There, four out of ten premium TVs sold in the first quarter of this year were produced by Samsung.

Samsung’s New Flagship TVs

What exactly do premium TVs offer? Well, along with a high price tag, today’s high-end TVs typically feature UHD (Ultra High Definition) resolution and measure over 60 inches across.

Samsung also leads the markets for UHD and widescreen TVs – a position that is even more evident when it comes to 65- and 75-inch widescreens. In fact, last year, Samsung products accounted for well over 40 percent of the global sales of TVs measuring over 60 inches.

In accordance with the widescreen TV trend, Samsung has launched two 75-inch QLED TVs in the US, Europe, China and Korea.

The curved Q8 offers an immersive viewing experience, coming with a full metal body and offering its audience a crisp, comfortable view (at any angle) that only a premium TV can offer.

The back of the flat screen Q7 features a natural, wavy pattern, and its body reflects contemporary, minimalist aesthetics. The bezel-less design and clean back look great whether mounted on the wall or positioned on a stand, and offer viewers an excellent viewing experience either way.

“The Q8 and Q7 are our flagship products that have combined one of the most advanced TV technologies in the current era and minimalist design,” said Moonsoo Kim, Senior Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business. “The two will make it clear, in the global TV market, that a premium TV means Samsung, and we are excited about that.”

QLED International Forum Venue, Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention & Exhibition Center.

Held under the theme ‘QLED’s Light Brightens the World,’ the forum welcomed approximately 300 guests to the Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention & Exhibition Center. Joining the attending government agencies were TV manufacturers including Samsung Electronics, Hisense and TCL; representatives of Peking and Tsinghua universities; GOME Electrical Appliances and Suning Commerce Group, China’s top two TV distributors; and JD.com, one of the country’s major e-commerce companies.

In his opening address, CECC Vice Chairman Liu Yufeng outlined QLED TVs’ potential to transform the industry. “QLED TV achieved 100 percent annual growth rate in the Chinese market and will increase from 600,000 products in 2016 to 1.2 million in 2017,” he said. “At the same time, the sales at the world’s market will also increase from 3 million to 6 million units. Quantum dot technology will be the major trend of the TV industry.”

Market research firm DisplaySearch has estimated that global sales of Quantum dot TVs will exceed 18 million units in 2018. The goal of the QLED International Forum is to accelerate the market’s trend toward QLED TV.

Representatives from Samsung Electronics, TCL, Hisense, GOME Electrical Appliances, Suning Commerce Group and JD.com took part in the QLED International Forum to kick-start the market for QLED TV.

After the attending distributors shared their strategies for vitalizing QLED TV sales, Samsung Electronics and other TV manufacturers signed contracts with GOME Electrical Appliances, Suning Commerce Group, JD.com, Five Star, Sundan and other distributors with the aim of boosting the QLED TV market.

Nanosys, the leading developer of Quantum dot technology, delivered a presentation that revealed QLED’s superior visual performance. The forum also provided a venue for TV manufacturers, display industry experts and academics to discuss the state of Quantum dot technology and QLED TV’s development.

Professor Peng Xiaogang of Zhejiang University summed up the significance of Quantum dots’ development quite succinctly. “Quantum dots are the best lighting material that mankind has ever found,” he explained. “The pure color representations, brightness and other features of Quantum dots are characteristics that other display technologies would have difficulties to take over.”

A staff showcases Samsung Electronics’ QLED TVs Q7 and Q8 at the QLED International Forum.

The event also featured an exhibition hall, which included exhibits on QLED TV, Quantum dot light emission, Quantum dot film, the technology’s biomedical applications, and other ways Quantum dots can be used in everyday life.

Samsung Electronics showcased its QLED Q7 and Q8 TVs, which offer the best picture quality. Samsung’s QLED TVs are the only displays capable of producing 100 percent color volume, which means that colors can be expressed accurately regardless of differing levels of brightness, ensuring that images are presented in the way the content producer intended.

However, as Liu Junguang, Samsung Electronics’ Vice President of Visual Display Business explained, an ability to portray vivid, accurate colors is not the only reason Quantum dot technology represents the future of TV.

Liu Junguang, Samsung Electronics’ Vice President of Visual Display Business, explains QLED TVs’ characteristic features.

“Because Quantum dots use inorganic materials, our displays can provide the utmost display quality without problems that leave marks on the screen, such as burn-in, or affect the lifespan of the product,” said Mr. Liu.

“It is the most suitable material for making displays,” he continued. “2017 is going to be the year when the global TV manufacturers works together to promote the QLED TV market.”

Samsung Electronics today announced its new QLED TV series – Q9, Q8, and Q7 – during the company’s 2017 product unveiling, held at the Keep Memory Alive Event Center in Las Vegas.

“2017 will mark a major paradigm shift in the visual display industry, ushering in the era of QLED,” said HyunSuk Kim, President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “With the advent of QLED TV, we provide the most true-to-life picture on screen. We have been successful in solving for past inconsistencies in the viewing experience and consumer pain points while redefining the fundamental value of TV.”

Samsung’s Best Picture Quality – Ever

With picture quality remaining a top priority for consumers around the world – especially as the average TV continues to increase in size, Samsung’s 2017 QLED TVs represent yet another leap forward.

The new lineup offers dramatically improved color performance, displaying DCI-P3 color space accurately and – in another world first for Samsung, QLED TVs are capable of reproducing 100 percent color volume. This means they can express all colors at any level of brightness – with even the subtlest differences visible at the QLED’s peak luminance – between 1,500 and 2,000 nits.

Color volume presents color that can be expressed at different levels of brightness. For example, a leaf can be perceived as different colors from yellowish green to turquoise, depending on brightness of the light. Samsung QLED TV display can capture even subtle differences in color pertaining to brightness. This kind of color detail cannot be easily depicted in the traditional 2D color space models.

This breakthrough is a result of Samsung’s adoption of a new metal Quantum Dot material – making it possible for the TV to express a significantly improved range of color with much greater detail compared to conventional TVs.

The new Quantum dots allow Samsung QLED TV to express deep blacks and rich detail regardless of how light or dark the scene is, or whether the content is being played in a brightly lit or darkened room. Furthermore, Samsung QLED TV can generate peak luminance as high as 1,500 to 2,000 nits, with no impact on its ability to deliver accurate and impeccable color. With its metal alloy Quantum Dot technology, brightness no longer has to be compromised to boost color performance, which is also maintained regardless of how wide the viewing angle may be.

Committed to Solving Consumer Pain Points

Samsung also used today’s product unveiling to highlight new design features which resolve some of the most significant TV viewer pain points.

“With the QLED TV, we’ve solved problems that everyone —and every home—has experienced; cable clutter, thick wall mounts and a slew of devices sitting right under the TV,” said Dave Das, Senior Vice President of Consumer Electronics Marketing for Samsung Electronics America. “With our 2017 lineup, the focus remains where it should be—the content on the screen —not everything surrounding it.”

The improvements to design and usability in the QLED TV series include a single, transparent ‘Invisible Connection’ cable, through which all of the peripheral devices can be gathered and connected to the TV. This is in addition to the ‘No-gap wall-mount’, which makes it quick and easy to affix the TV flush against the wall. Or, for those who prefer not to mount the TV, Samsung is offering two new stands designed to elevate and showcase the QLED TVs as beautiful home accessories all by themselves. Consumers can choose either the ‘Studio Stand’, which resembles an easel with a painting, or the sleek ‘Gravity Stand’, which when attached to the TV, resembles a contemporary sculpture.

Samsung’s Smartest TV Ever

In 2017, Samsung is focused on the continued evolution of its much lauded Smart TV offering, giving people the simple, unified user experience they want for all their entertainment content – wherever and whenever they want it. For example, with the Samsung Smart Remote, consumers can control most connected TV devices from a single source, with one device.

This year, the ‘Smart Hub’ interface has been extended to smartphones through Samsung’s new and improved ‘Smart View’ app, which now provides a comprehensive overview of all available content on the app’s home screen. Thus, consumers can use their mobile device to select and start their favorite live TV programs and video-on-demand services – on their TV, through the ‘Smart View’ mobile app. Consumers can also choose to receive alerts on their mobile devices about their favorite content, regarding for example, show times and availability.

Samsung also introduced two new Smart TV services, including ‘Sports’, which shows a customizable summary of a customer’s favorite sports team and its recent and upcoming games, and ‘Music’, which can identify songs as they are being played live on a TV show, among many other features.

More than 200 journalists from around the world participated in Samsung’s product unveiling event to experience Samsung QLED TV’s picture quality and usability first-hand. Consumers attending CES 2017 will be able to view all these exciting innovations, and much more, on the show floor from the 5^th of January onwards.