Ranked 2nd and 3rd in Market Share Following Google
Expanding Supply of Proprietary OS to Other Brands
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Ye-ju] Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are expanding their TV business portfolios, which had been limited to hardware such as development and production, into content and service sectors. As the utilization of TVs increases through online streaming services (OTT) and gaming, the role of optimized operating systems (OS) has emerged. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively in the smart TV OS market, are working on various strategies to narrow the gap with the leader, Google Android.
According to Samsung Electronics on the 16th, recently, Australian company Tempo released a TV equipped with the open platform 'Tizen' OS at the end of September. This is the first time Samsung's proprietary TV platform, Tizen, has been installed on another company's TV.
Since 2015, Samsung Electronics has applied the directly developed Tizen OS to all TVs it produces. However, recently, it has been opening its proprietary OS not only to its own products but also to other brands. Turkiye's Artmaca and China's HKC are also scheduled to release TVs equipped with Tizen in Europe and Turkiye within this month.
LG Electronics is also accelerating the advancement of its platform business by promoting its TV business software platform, 'web OS.' Recently, it launched the newly upgraded 'web OS Hub.' Since last year, LG Electronics has been supplying web OS as a software package externally. According to LG Electronics, the number of brands choosing web OS as their smart TV platform increased from about 20 last year to over 200 this year.
Currently, in the global smart TV OS market, Google's 'Android' is steadily increasing its market share. This is interpreted as a result of Samsung and LG adjusting supply amid an overall slowdown in TV demand, leading to a higher proportion of mid-to-low-end TVs equipped with Android being sold. According to market research firm Omdia, as of the first half of this year, Google's Android holds a 41.3% market share in the smart TV OS market, ranking first. Android's market share has significantly increased annually, from 33.9% in 2020 to 38.7% in 2021. Samsung Electronics' Tizen OS ranked second with 22.7% in the first half of this year, and LG Electronics' web OS recorded 13.2%, ranking third.
The reason global TV manufacturers are expanding their OS market share is analyzed as a judgment that content has become a key differentiating factor in a situation where TV picture quality and performance are leveling up. Additionally, revenue from OS content advertising and commissions is at a non-negligible level.
Experts analyze that considering the influence of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in the global TV market, the potential of Tizen and web OS is high. It is interpreted that, based on a well-established TV ecosystem, connections with various businesses such as home appliances, signage, and automotive electronics can be considered. However, to maintain their current influence and build a hyper-connected ecosystem in the future, it is pointed out that they need to strengthen competitiveness by promoting collaboration with more global content companies.
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