Samsung has confirmed it ended 2025 as the world’s number one television brand for the twentieth consecutive year, a run that now stretches back to 2006. The company announced the milestone in Auckland this week, timed to coincide with the New Zealand arrival of its 2026 AI TV line-up, which we covered when the full range landed earlier this month.
Round-number anniversaries are usually corporate throat-clearing, and twenty years at the top is exactly the sort of statistic a company prints on a wall and moves on from. But there are a couple of figures in Samsung’s announcement that are worth slowing down for, because they say more about the state of the television market than the headline does.
The number that actually matters
According to market research firm Omdia, Samsung took a 29.1% share of the global TV market in 2025. That alone is a commanding lead, but it is the premium figure that raises an eyebrow: in the premium category, Samsung held a 54.3% share. More than half of every premium television sold anywhere in the world last year carried a Samsung badge.
That is not a market lead. That is a market that has, for now, largely decided. The demand was driven by Neo QLED, OLED and The Frame, which between them cover the three reasons people spend up on a TV: outright picture performance, the OLED purists’ choice, and the design-led buyer who wants the thing to disappear into the wall when it is off.
For a sense of scale, holding a majority of a global premium category across an entire year is the kind of dominance you normally associate with a single blockbuster product, not an entire product tier from one manufacturer. It is the commercial story sitting underneath all the talk of Micro RGB and AI.
The soundbar habit
The audio side of the business has quietly built a similar record. Citing research from Futuresource, Samsung says it captured 21.5% of global soundbar revenue and 19.7% of unit volume in 2025, holding the number one soundbar position it has now occupied since 2014. That makes twelve consecutive years at the top of a category that barely existed in its current form when Samsung started winning it.
The soundbar leadership matters more than it looks, because it is the upsell that turns a good TV into a proper home cinema. Anyone who has added a capable soundbar to a flat-panel TV knows the upgrade is more dramatic than the next jump in panel technology. Samsung selling the screen and then selling the sound to go with it is a tidy piece of business, and the 2026 range leans further into it with the new Music Studio wireless speakers.
How a brand stays on top for twenty years
The official line from Samsung New Zealand is about innovation and connected living, and there is a version of that which is true rather than just tidy. “New Zealanders continue to embrace bigger screens, premium picture quality and more connected entertainment experiences in the home,” said Emily Choi, President of Samsung New Zealand.
“Samsung’s 20-year leadership in TVs and 12-year leadership in soundbars is a true reflection of our ongoing commitment to innovation and delivering premium entertainment experiences that enhance Kiwi lifestyles.”
Strip away the press-release gloss and the track record holds up. Samsung was early to LED backlighting, early to the smart TV as a platform rather than a feature, and it effectively invented the lifestyle TV category with The Frame, which turned the dead black rectangle on the wall into something people actually wanted to look at when it was switched off. The 2026 arrival of Micro RGB, with its individually controlled red, green and blue micro LEDs, is the latest swing at the ultra-premium end and the clearest signal that the company has no intention of coasting on the anniversary.
“As homes become increasingly connected, Kiwis are now looking for technology solutions that feel smarter, more seamless and more personalised,” Choi added. “Our 2026 TV line-up reflects that by combining premium design, AI-powered intelligence and immersive entertainment, to create experiences tailored for the way New Zealanders live today.”
The takeaway
Market leadership is not the same as being the right TV for your particular lounge, and a twenty-year record is no guarantee the next set you buy is the one you should have bought. But a 54.3% premium share is a genuinely striking number, and it tells you that an enormous proportion of people walking into a store with money to spend are walking out with the same brand. That is worth knowing whether you find it reassuring or faintly suspicious, and reasonable people will land on both.
For our money, the more interesting story is not the twenty years behind Samsung but the bet it is placing on the next few, with Micro RGB at the top and Glare Free panels spreading down the OLED range. The anniversary is the victory lap. The 2026 line-up is the company telling you it still wants the race.
The Samsung 2026 TV and audio range is available now through retailers nationwide and the Samsung eStore.
