HERTFORDSHIRE, UK – Consumer demand for TV sets is poised to return to growth in 2018, says Futuresource Consulting. The recovery of several markets linked with a transition to 4K UHD models will drive trade value up 5% to $85 billion.

"We believe 4K UHD TV sets will ship over 100 million units this year, equivalent to two-thirds of the entire large screen market," said David Tett, market analyst at Futuresource Consulting. "Consumers increasingly want larger screens, and this is playing nicely into the 4K UHD proposition."

The world's two largest markets, China and the US, both saw drops in 2017 but have a positive outlook in 2018, with a significant mix of large screens and 4K UHD sets, according to the research firm.

"They have been ahead of most other markets in terms of adoption of 4K UHD and large screens generally. Over three quarters of sets that sell in the US and China this year will be over 40."

However, other regions are now catching up, and Western Europe is on course to match the 44% Chinese household ownership of 4K UHD TVs by 2022.

With a substantial installed base of 4K UHD TV households to target, content is now becoming available across markets.

"Our Living with Digital consumer research shows there has been a significant step up in the proportion of 4K UHD TV owners who say they have watched this content at home,” said Tett. “This is the result not just of an expanding number of SVOD subscribers, but also a growing choice of content via linear TV."

Inclusion of voice is the latest weapon being deployed by the biggest vendors in the heated battleground of premium TV, says Futuresource. The most popular voice assistant platforms, Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa, are being incorporated into the latest TVs from LG, Hisense, TCL and Vizio. Samsung, meanwhile, will be using its in-house Bixby assistant in its 2018 QLED range. With smart home and IoT becoming a focus for many brands, Futuresource expects the inclusion of VAs to grow rapidly in TVs.

Also, in pursuit of better margins, most vendors have introduced either QLED or OLED display technology to larger screens.

"The two largest TV vendors are currently on opposing sides. Samsung is the driving force behind QLED, and LG is OLED's primary backer."

Futuresource expects a 41% CAGR between 2018 and 2022 of these technologies, resulting in around 8 million sets shipping in 2022.

HDR is expected to be present in 60% of 4K UHD sets this year.