(Yicai) Jan. 7 -- The 2026 Consumer Electronics Show, currently underway in Las Vegas, has become a key stage for four leading Chinese and South Korean TV makers to showcase their latest mini LED TVs with competition increasingly centered on how rich and how lifelike the displays appear, especially in terms of colors.

Hisense Visual Technology, TCL Technology Group, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics all unveiled their newest mini LED TV technologies and products ahead of the opening of this year’s CES.

“Every major TV brand has showcased mini LED TVs at the CES this year, including high-end models,” Zhang Hong, deputy general manager of Chinese market research firm Sigmaintell Consulting’s large-sized display division, told Yicai. “Qingdao-based Hisense’s RGB mini LED technology, in particular, has narrowed the gap with Organic Light-Emitting Diode TVs in picture quality and has even surpassed them in color gamut performance.”

Competition among high-end mini LED TVs has moved beyond basic spec comparisons and is now centered on differentiated display technologies, including light sources, chips and color management systems, Zhang said.

With big industry players rolling out improved mini LED technologies, this year is likely to be the year that marks the widespread global adoption of mini LED TVs, Hu Jiarong, an analyst at Chinese market intelligence firm TrendForce, told Yicai. Overall, these TVs have clear advantages over OLED models in terms of lifespan and cost, especially for those with large-screens.

Mini LED TVs are not only beginning to challenge OLED TVs’ position in the global premium TV market, but as their adoption accelerates, they could also help drive counter-cyclical growth in the global TV market this year.

“Mini LED TVs are expected to quickly gain traction in mid- to high-end markets both in China and overseas, with global shipments projected to surge 58 percent this year from the year before to 21.1 million units,” Zhang said.

Surging Sales

TrendForce also predicts that while total global TV shipments are expected to dip 0.3 percent this year from the year before, sales of mini LED TVs could still grow 40 percent and their market penetration rate will continue to increase.

“Global shipments of mini LED TVs hit 7.85 million units in 2024, surpassing that of OLED TVs for the first time, which reached 6.12 million units over the period,” said Wang Xianming, head of TV industry supply chain research at RUNTO. “That lead is expected to widen further in 2025 and continue in the years ahead.”

Wang estimates that global shipments of mini LED TVs will surge 30.1 percent this year from last year to 16.1 million units. Of this, China sales are likely to exceed 10 million units. By contrast, total TV shipments in the Chinese market are expected to tumble roughly 8 percent to around 30 million units.

Riding the wave of growing demand for mini LED TVs, Wang predicts that between 2026 and 2027, leading Chinese TV brands could become serious contenders for the top spot in global TV market share.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor