Samsung Electronics - strong growth of Middle East's LCD TV market

In the retail channels and countries tracked by GfK in the Middle East region, sales to consumers reached 72,648 units in 2006, marking a 280% increase from 2005.

The results indicate that during January and February 2007, more than 25,000 units were sold and revenues exceeding 34 million dollars were recorded. Roughly 75% of the output came from screen sizes 32" and larger.

Samsung Electronics maintained a leading market share position in the major LCD-TV markets in the Gulf region, namely UAE (34.5% in Jan-Feb '07), KSA (28.5% in Jan-Feb '07), and Kuwait (53.4% in Jan-Feb '07).

According to GfK Retail Audit, the HD industry and change in consumer perception is the key driver in the growth of the FPTV industry, where the technology is now perceived as the best innovation since color TV.

Nadim Shaikh, Production Manage from GfK said: "We have been studying the growth of the region's LCD industry over the years and found that the increase in sales and the switch from traditional to flat-panel TVs can be attributed to consumers seeking higher picture quality, wanting more television sets per room and the remarkable increase in content with the introduction of new free-to-air channels."