Can the Beijing Winter Olympics light a fire in the winter for the color TV industry?

The first financial reporter learned that on the afternoon of January 11, Hisense Video (600060. SH) will release its self-developed 8K AI picture quality chip, after Changhong shipped the first batch of 8K smart TV set-top boxes to Gehua Cable. In 2022, the sales of China's color TV market are expected to shrink compared with last year. Can the Beijing Winter Olympics ignite "a fire in winter" for the color TV industry chain?

The Winter Olympics will drive a breakthrough in the 8K industry chain

This year is the final year of the "Ultra-high-definition Video Industry Development Action Plan (2019-2022)", which focused on the deployment of the task of "core component research and development", and Hisense developed 8KAI picture quality chips, which means that the core components have made a breakthrough. In 2022, Hisense and CCTV will also jointly develop China's 8K broadcast-grade professional monitors.

Sichuan Changhong (600839. SH) changhong network technology recently delivered the first batch of 8K smart TV set-top boxes to Gehua Cable (600037.SH) to help 8K live broadcasting. On December 30, 2021, gehua cable affiliate Beijing Radio and Television Station launched the Winter Olympics documentary 8K ultra-high-definition test channel, which is the first TV channel in China to provide 8K services to a wide audience.

Gehua Cable said in response to investors' questions on January 7 that Gehua Cable is the official cable TV supplier of the Beijing Winter Olympics, mainly responsible for the construction of the cable TV network system for the Winter Olympics, and the impact of this matter on the revenue of Gehua Cable is detailed in the annual report.

On November 12, 2021, the first IPTV 8K video content zone in China, the Xiyue TV platform under the Southern New Media (New Media Shares, 300770.SZ) covering Guangdong region, has been launched, and will be pushed in batches on each brand TV terminal, entering the extreme K zone navigation or in the 8K box can find the entrance, in order to take the opportunity of the Beijing Winter Olympics to enrich the 8K video content.

Dong Min, deputy secretary-general of the China Video Industry Association, told the first financial reporter that this Winter Olympics will be the first time to carry out all-round documentary reports through the 8K ultra-high-definition test channel of Beijing Radio and Television Station. This is the world's largest consumer market test of 8K TV after the Spring Festival Gala in 2021, which will promote the development of the whole industry chain such as 8K advantage publicity, 8K TV retail, 8K content production reserves and 8K application software, and will also drive the linkage of outdoor large screens, community medium screens and personal small screens.

8K TV sales are expected to grow significantly this year

At present, China's color TV market is in the "cold winter". According to Sigmaintell, the Chinese market shipped 40.3 million color TVs in 2021, down 14.2% year-on-year; shipments are expected to recover slightly to 41.3 million units in 2022, an increase of 2.6% year-on-year. AVC expects that In 2021, China's color TV sales will be 38.35 million units, with sales of 129.3 billion yuan; it is expected that In 2022, China's color TV sales will be 40.46 million units, with sales of 127.4 billion yuan, sales rebounding, and sales have declined.

In terms of retail of 8K TV, the first financial reporter noticed that in the Jingdong e-commerce platform, the real 8K TV is not much, most of the TVs on the market are 4K screens that support 8K decoding, and 8K TVs with 70-80 inches or so are often 20,000 or 30,000 yuan, and some domestic brands have dropped 8K TVs below 10,000 yuan to test the market.

"The Winter Olympics are expected to have a certain impetus to the color TV industry, but the rigid demand in China's TV market continues to weaken and is affected by cross-category products, and the overall demand is still weak." Zhang Hong, research director of the TV division of Qunzhi Consulting, told the first financial reporter that the current 8K TV industry chain is still not mature enough, and the positioning is high-end, the price is too high, and the market scale is limited. In 2021, the Chinese market will ship 100,000 8K TVs, and it is expected to reach 180,000 units in 2022, a sharp increase of 80% year-on-year, but the penetration rate is still at a low level.

Aowei Cloud Network predicts that in 2021, China's 8K TV retail sales will be 80,000 units, an increase of 25% year-on-year; in 2022, China's 8K TV retail sales are expected to reach 200,000 units, an increase of 1.5 times year-on-year. Jie Meijuan, general manager of the consumer electronics division of Aowei Cloud Network, told the first financial reporter, "The Winter Olympics will bring benefits to the 8K TV market from the aspects of content, products, marketing, etc., but it is difficult to drive the blowout effect, because the application experience of the 8K function has not fully reached the level expected by consumers." ”

"The 8K track has just opened", Dong Min suggested that next, first of all, manufacturers need to increase the supply of 8K panels, reduce costs, and improve the hardware industry chain including chips; secondly, in terms of user minds, improve the acceptance of 8K and larger size screens, reduce the psychological barriers to purchase; in addition, in accordance with the "Ultra-high-definition Video Industry Development Action Plan", enrich 8K content, and actively develop large-scale applications of 8K videos in the fields of cultural and educational entertainment, security monitoring, medical health, intelligent transportation, industrial manufacturing and other fields.