Global July 2013 flat panel TV shipments drop by -6.3% Y-o-Y to 14.9 million units according to IHS, making for a 2nd consecutive month of decline "dampening" hopes of the market seeing growth during 2013.

LCD TV shipments reach 14.1m units with a -5.7% Y-o-Y decline, while plasma TVs contract even further by -15.8% Y-o-Y to just 781000 units.

Such results bring about a conservative outlook for the next few months, even if shipments should bounce back during end 2013 through the traditional holiday sales bump.

“Last year was the first time that global flat panel TV shipments failed to grow, following a decade of blockbuster expansion and runaway success,” the analyst says. “This year as recently as May, it appeared that the flat-panel TV market might pull off a rebound even if growth would have been marginal at less than 1%. However, with any increase unlikely to take place even in Q4 2013, it appears more likely that TV shipments will post another year of decline in 2013. If so, this would make it the 2nd year in a row that flat-panel TV shipments retrench—- an unthinkable prospect just a few years back, during the flat-panel boom.”

TVs featuring LED backlighting make 95% of shipments, with the production of previous-generation cold cathode flourescent lamp (CCFL) panels soon on the way out. IHS describes the resultant little differentiation in the TV market as a "game of chicken," especially when it comes to pricing, and an unfavourable situation for TV makers.

Samsung remains the top TV maker with 19% July 2013 shipment share, followed by LG with 14%. In 3rd place is a tie between Japan's Sony and China's TCL with 6% each, while Toshiba and Hisense tie at 4th place with 5% each.

Also a tie is 5th place, shared by Sharp, Panasonic and Skyworth.

The 6 major Chinese brands (Changhong, Haier, Hisense, Konka, Skyworth and TCL) hold a combined 20.4% share, up from 15.5% in June. IHS predicts the top Chinese vendors will only grow stronger, and will likely beat the Japanese by end 2013.

Go Flat Panel TV Shipments Continue to Decline in July (IHS)