[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has widened its lead over competitors in the US market for premium TVs, a market research report said on Oct. 4.

The report from US firm NPD said Samsung held 34 percent of the TV market as of end-August, far outdoing its rival LG Electronics (15 percent) as well as Vizio and Sony (11 percent each).

The Korean tech giant did exceptionally well in the premium segment, priced at over US$2,500, dominating 44 percent of the US market. The number compares with 33 percent for Sony and 23 percent for LG. The estimate is that Samsung raised its figure to the mid-50 percentile range in September.

The corresponding figure for Samsung in the same period last year was 27 percent.

For 75-inch or larger TVs, Samsung won over 57 percent of the market, more than double second-place Sony’s 25 percent as of end-August, NPD’s report said. Samsung had 43 percent in the same period last year.

Samsung is due to release an ultra-premium QLED 8K TV in the United States and Europe later this month, which company officials say could further expand its market share.

“We expect the 8K resolution market to grow at a fast speed from the artificial intelligence-based upscaling technology that can switch low resolution content to 8K level,” an official said.

“If that is the case, it will have a positive effect on the demand in the US for the new QLED 8K TVs.”

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)