South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. has significantly increased its share in the Japanese premium television market in the second half of last year, beating most Japanese rivals that have remained shy about launching new high-end TV models due to soured business conditions.

LG Electronics moved up to the second place in the Japanese market in the premium TV category costing $2,500 or higher per unit in the third quarter of last year in terms of market share, toppling Japan-based Sharp Corp., according to global market research firm IHS Inc. on Sunday. LG Electronics claimed 32.7 percent in the entire market in the September-ended third quarter, trailing behind the market leader Sony Corp. that accounted for 50 percent. In the following quarter, the LG Electronics and Sony nearly shared the market, commanding 42.8 percent and 57.2 percent, respectively. Market observers note that the Korean electronics giant benefited from hiatus in the pipeline from its struggling Japanese counterparts such as Sharp, Panasonic Corp. and Toshiba Corp. that have failed to release new premium TVs due to ongoing restructuring.

Sharp took the lead in the Japanese premium TV market in the second quarter of last year, but it stopped launching new TV products in the following months after starting restructuring its overall business. As part of its business reform efforts, the Japanese company has decided to withdraw from the North American TV market last year and sold its TV manufacturing plant in Mexico to China’s electronics manufacturer Hisense Co.

While its Japanese rivals remained reluctant to introduce new products, LG Electronics’ organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs with improved picture quality liquid-crystal-display (LCD) TVs and it slim designs grabbed attention of Japanese consumers. Japanese audio-visual magazine HiVi selected LG Electronics’ 65-inch Curved OLED UHD TV as the best product among 60- to 65-inch TVs in the second half in 2015. It is unusual for a foreign brand to be favored the most in the Japanese TV market that is considered a tough market for foreign electronics brands.

By Lee Seung-hoon

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