TCL closes in on Samsung: global TV market share up 20% year over year

TCL / TCL科技 and Hisense / 海信 — two Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers — took second and third place respectively in the global TV market by units shipped in Q1 2026: 16.3% for TCL and 15.1% for Hisense, against leader Samsung's 19.1%, according to Counterpoint Research. For all of 2025, the ranking was similar: Samsung at roughly 17%, TCL at 16%, Hisense at 10%.

A moment that went almost unnoticed in the West

An even more telling episode noted earlier by analysts: in one particular quarter, China's Hisense and TCL overtook Samsung and LG in global TV shipments for the first time in history — an event barely covered outside specialist trade press, even though it effectively marked a change of leader in one of the world's most recognizable consumer electronics categories.

The strategy behind TCL's growth

TCL's global shipments grew 20% year over year despite a sluggish domestic Chinese market — the company offset this with demand from more price-sensitive regions: Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa (MEA), offering technologies like MiniLED at competitive prices. In the first three quarters of 2025, TCL's international shipments grew 7.9% year over year, with 65-inch-plus and 75-inch-plus models growing 44.6% and 61.8% respectively — meaning the company is successfully expanding specifically in the premium large-screen segment, not just the budget category.

A mirror-image situation at Hisense

Unlike TCL, Hisense's shipments fell 13% year over year, and the company remains heavily dependent on China, which accounted for 27% of all its shipments in the first half of 2025 — a segment that shrank 24% year over year during that period. This shows that even among two leading Chinese brands in the same industry, geographic diversification strategies can produce fundamentally different results depending on how quickly a company shifts its focus to international markets.

An overview of China's consumer electronics manufacturers is covered in the electronics and smart home program; the company's card is available on the GlobalTechTour site.