Ultra High Definition (Ultra-HD or UHD) TVs, which offer four times the display resolution of standard HDTVs, will be installed in nearly 10 million households worldwide by 2016 according to the latest report from Strategy Analytics, “Global Ultra High-Definition TV Forecast by Screen Size”. By 2020 more than 130 million households worldwide will own a UHD TV. Major companies like Samsung, Sony and LG will introduce new UHD TVs at this month’s International CES in Las Vegas, and while most of these products will be priced at more than $10,000 Strategy Analytics expects prices to fall rapidly as manufacturers expand production volumes.

The report predicts that global annual sales of UHD TVs will first break through the one million barrier in 2015 and by 2020 global annual sales will exceed 50 million units. The UHD market will be dominated by jumbo-sized displays of 60-100 inches or more: 80 inch and over displays will account for 26 percent of global sales in 2020 and 60 to 79 inch displays will account for 61 percent.

“Current pricing makes UHD TVs more or less unaffordable but TV manufacturers are expected to make significant production investments in the medium term, and we anticipate UHD TV prices will fall to the sub-$2000 range within the next five years,” says Jia Wu, Director of the Connected Home Devices (CHD) service. “Once retail prices hit this sweet spot, sales in the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, China and other markets will quickly take off.”

David Mercer, VP and Principal Analyst at Strategy Analytics added: “TV manufacturers will drive UHD TV adoption in the early years, and the growing installed base of UHD-ready displays will eventually encourage content and service providers to deliver UHD-quality sports, movies and TV shows to premium pay TV subscribers. Internet-sourced UHD video is also a possibility but could raise significant challenges in broadband bandwidth and download limits.”

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