The global market for liquid-crystal display TVs lost ground this year, while shipments of organic light-emitting diode TVs sharply increased, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to the data compiled by industry tracker WitsView, global shipments of LCD TVs are expected to reach 210 million units in 2017, down 4.1 percent from a year earlier.

By company, Samsung Electronics Co. accounted for 42.9 million units, followed by LG Electronics Inc. with 28.3 million units and China-based TCL Corp. with 14.3 million units.

WitsView, however, said the shipment of LCD TVs will edge up 3.9 percent on-year in 2018 to reach 218 million units, showing a slight improvement, as Samsung Electronics continues to promote its high-end QLED TVs.

Samsung's QLED TVs are based on the LCD technology and utilize so-called quantum-dot technology for better resolution. As the QLED TVs still need backlights, LG Electronics has been tapping OLED TVs for its premium line.

"In 2018, Samsung's TV business will continue to be profit-oriented, with product development focusing on QLED TVs for high-end market segments. The shares of high-resolution (4K) and large-size TV sets (49 inches or greater) will both surpass 50 percent in shipments," WitsView said.

The industry tracker said the shipments of OLED TVs in the market, on the other hand, are estimated to have shot up 72 percent on-year for all of 2017 to reach 1.5 million units.

"WitsView expects that LG Electronics and Sony will continue to expand their OLED offerings in the high-end market, both brands will record slight shipment rises in 2018," the researcher said in its report. (Yonhap) --