TCL is heading into this year’s IFA pointing to last year’s Omdia data.

It shows TCL was the global leader in Mini LED TV shipments and in ultra-large sets (85 inches and above) for 2024.

With people spending ever more time ‘cocooning’ in their homes, growing numbers of consumers have been investing in big-screen TVs.

The trend doesn’t look like ending anytime soon.

Omdia forecasts that global shipments of 80-inch and larger TVs will grow by 35% year-over-year.

They accounted for 7% of the overall display market in 2024 and that figure is expected to increase to 11% by 2030.

The shift towards Chinese TV manufacturers now seems structural, not just cyclical.

Chinese panel makers, led by TCL’s sister company CSOT and peers like BOE, now dominate ultra-large LCD supply (98–100 inches).

Why leave the house when you can watch Netflix on a big-screen TV?

In recent years, Western consumers have developed a taste for the big, bright but still affordable Mini-LED LCDs that Chinese manufacturers have focused on.

As a result, TCL and Hisense have climbed the shipment rankings, squeezing LG for the number two position in several recent quarters. (Samsung remains the overall leader.)

The 2024 sales data relates to TCL’s market share rather than being a verdict on the quality of its products. But like many Chinese manufacturers, TCL is now competing fiercely on quality rather than just price.

TCL is widely credited with introducing the world’s first Mini LED TV in 2019, becoming the first TV manufacturer to achieve mass production in this segment.

Since then, TCL has consistently refined proprietary technologies and algorithms, leading to significant advancements in Mini LED technology.

The big question at IFA will be whether TCL’s supersized TVs can deliver sustained HDR, tighter halo control and better motion handling at like-for-like sizes and prices.

If it can, Samsung might have good reason to start feeling worried.