8K TVs are neither a bust nor an unqualified success, according to an 8K TV forecast from Strategy Analytics. The firm found that these devices – which offer four times the resolution of 4K televisions – will be in 56 million homes by the end of 2025. The United States will have the most, with 8% of homes having the sets.

8K TV Forecast

Global sales of the TVs, which were introduced recently, will reach 500,000 units this year, according to the forecast. The category will struggle outside the U.S. This class of television sets will help TV vendors while not having much impact on the content industry, the report says.

Strategy Analytics Director David Watkins said in a press release that to some extent 8K is seen as a logical next step for homes with 4K sets. He says that 8K will gain a foothold where large screen sizes are popular.

What to show on these sets will be a challenge, according to Michael Goodman, Strategy Analytics’ Director of TV & Media Strategies. “The availability of true 8K content is going to remain extremely restricted for some years,” he said in the release. “Many content providers and distributors are still migrating to 4K from basic HD and will see little justification in investing in 8K when so few viewers will see any benefit for many years. Instead, they should focus on other important image enhancement technologies such as HDR (high dynamic range) and HFR (high frame rate).”

Other key findings from the report:

• Annual sales of 8K TVs will reach 31 million units worldwide by 2025, worth $35B in retail revenues.
• Sales of 8K TVs will be concentrated in the 60-inch and above screen size categories. All 8K TVs today are above 60-inches in size and by 2025 the 60-inch and above category will still account for more than 70% of 8K TV demand.