Global TV sales are expected to decline slightly this year, but shipments of premium TVs will grow, a report showed Tuesday, boding well for South Korean makers that lead the high-end sector.

Global TV shipments are projected to reach 223.09 million units in 2021, according to market researcher Omdia, which is down 1 percent from last year's 225.35 million units. The latest figure is also down from Omdia's previous estimate of 224.22 million units late last year.

Omdia predicted that robust TV sales propelled by the pandemic-induced stay-at-home economy will continue through the first half of 2021. However, it expected TV sales in the second half of the year to decline from a year earlier.

Although the overall TV market may shrink slightly, industry observers said South Korea's two largest TV makers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- may not suffer big damage as premium TV sales are expected to increase.

Omdia data showed that global OLED TV sales, led by LG, are expected to reach 5.6 million units in 2021, up 200,000 units from its previous estimate. It is also a 60 percent increase from last year's shipments of 3.54 million units.

Analysts said increased supply of OLED panels from LG Display Co.'s plant in China will help sales of OLED TVs that are also manufactured by global players like Sony and Panasonic.

Omdia projected that sales of QLED TVs, anchored by the world's largest TV maker Samsung, to surpass 12 million units this year, up 26 percent from a year ago.

Samsung last year sold 7.79 million QLED TVs, accounting for more than 81 percent of global QLED TV sales. (Yonhap)