More than 50 million TV units were shipped to retailers globally in the first three months of 2026 amid a build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America.
Tech research firm Omdia says the 50.3 million units shipped to retailers marks a 6% increase on its 2025 first quarter figures. And it comes despite a rise in online (operating system or OS) televisions.
In its Q1 2026 TV Sets market tracker report, it says the Asia/Oceania region recorded the greatest growth in television shipments, up 13%, as China faces weak local demand.
The two fastest growing regions (Asia/Oceania and Latin America or up 12%) benefited from Chinese vendors redirecting more shipments into their regions as their own domestic market remains weak.
North America also recorded strong growth (11%) in shipments despite being a highly saturated market amid intension retail competition to boost the reach of OS TVs and generating advertising revenue without the need for hardware sales.
TV PRICES STABLE
Omdia says these factors helped insulate North American consumers from higher memory prices that hit other electronic goods as global TV prices also remain stable; this reflects the highly competitive market and a shift in profit-generating momentum away from hardware and toward advertising.
“The Chinese market leads the adoption of RGB LED TVs primarily due to the early introduction of models from TCL and Hisense, ahead of international regions,” said Matthew Rubin, the Research Manager for TV Set Research with Omdia.
“With many more models being introduced ahead of the World Cup, shipment volume of this technology is expected to accelerate rapidly.”
Omdia says only 39,4000 shipments of RGB LED units were shipped in quarter one of 2026 but expects its popularity to grow as more vendors introduce models and the potential for RGB LED technology to be used in mid-range sets.
The 48-team FIFA World Cup starts next week (June 11) and will be held across the US, Canada and Mexico.
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