LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 3, 2026--
Global TV shipments increased 6% year-on-year (YoY) to 50.3 million units in 1Q26, as retailers increased inventory ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup, according to data from Omdia’s latest TV Sets (Emerging Technologies) Market Tracker: History – 1Q26. All regions grew YoY except for Mainland China, which continues to face weak local demand following domestic stimulus measures in 2025.
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Developing economies and North America propel global growth
The two fastest growing regions in the first quarter of 2026 were both considered developing economies, with Asia & Oceania (up 13%) and Latin America (up 12%) benefitting from Chinese vendors redirecting additional shipments into these regions as their domestic market remained weak.
North America also posted particularly strong shipment growth (up 11%), despite being a highly saturated market. A combination of factors contributed to this growth, particularly in the U.S. As a co-host of this year’s World Cup, the US market offers retailers a clear opportunity to promote TV sets aggressively. At the same time, competition among retailers remains intense. This is most clearly seen with Walmart, which has a strategic goal of increasing the reach of Vizio OS, available on Onn. and Vizio TVs, and generating advertising-derived revenue without relying on hardware sales for profitability.
These factors have helped ensure that North American consumers remain largely insulated from the increased memory prices affecting a wide range of consumer electronics goods. Globally, TV prices have also remained surprisingly stable, despite headline-grabbing increases in memory price. This reflects the highly competitive nature of the TV market and the shift in profit-generating momentum away from hardware and toward advertising.
RGB LED adoption accelerates
Omdia’s latest database now tracks RGB LED TVs, which are initially expected to compete directly with OLED TVs because both technologies carry premium price tags. While RGB based TVs represented only a small proportion of units in the first quarter of 2026, with just 39.4 thousand units shipped, the technology is set to play an increasingly important role through 2026 and in the coming years. This will be supported by more vendors introducing models and the potential for RGB LED technology to be used in mid-range TVs, similar to the adoption path of Mini LED technology.
“The Chinese market leads the adoption of RGB LED TVs, but this is primarily due to the early introduction of models from TCL and Hisense, ahead of international regions,” said Matthew Rubin, Research Manager, TV Set Research, Omdia. “With many more models being introduced ahead of the World Cup, shipment volume of this technology is expected to accelerate rapidly.”
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1Q26 regional RGB Mini LED shipment share
Regional TV shipments and year-on-year growth, 1Q26
NEW YORK (AP) — Mole people? Crocodile catchers? Mario brothers? A series of bizarre sightings of people popping in and out of New York City’s vast subterranean sewer system has the city wondering what exactly is going on, with police now probing the underground mystery.
Security cameras have recorded at least three nighttime instances where groups of people entered or exited sewer tunnels via maintenance holes on streets in Brooklyn and Queens.
In one video, taken early Friday morning in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, a group of roughly seven people were recorded popping out of a maintenance hole in the middle of an intersection, in full view of passing cars.
Some wore headlamps and carried what appeared to be shovels and other tools. One narrowly missed getting run over by a vehicle as they pulled themselves out of the ground.
In another video, a group of about seven people could be seen emerging from a maintenance hole around 2 a.m. on a quiet street in Brooklyn's Gravesend neighborhood. They made their way to a couple of parked cars and pulled out fresh clothes to change into. Police say the group entered the sewers about 11 p.m., meaning they could have been underground for three hours.
On May 5, three people dressed in waterproof hip waders and other protective gear pried open a maintenance hole cover and descended into the sewer on a street in Queens. The last person pulled the cover shut as approaching cars slowed to a stop.
Aki Jakupovic, the owner of an auto detailing shop, said his shop’s surveillance cameras recorded that group of sewer spelunkers. He said he couldn’t venture a guess as to what the people did below ground but worried they were “up to no good.”
The city Department of Environmental Protection said it inspected the sewers at both Brooklyn locations and verified the sewer infrastructure wasn’t damaged. The incident in Queens is still under investigation, the agency said.
Rob Wolejsza, the department’s spokesperson, stressed that entering the sewers is not only illegal but “extremely dangerous.”
“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces,” Wolejsza said in a statement. “For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”
Last month, a woman fell into an open maintenance hole on a busy street in midtown Manhattan and died. Utility officials said the hole cover had been dislodged by a truck.
Police, meanwhile, said they don’t believe there’s any threat to public safety after conducting a thorough sweep of the areas. There have been no reports of injuries and no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing, the department said.
On Tuesday, at the busy intersection in Williamsburg where the second group was spotted, resident Anthony Purdie said he isn’t convinced it was simple curiosity that drew the group to explore the sewers in the cover of night.
“They look like they were looking for something important, like money, or for doing some type of hurting,” he said. “Ain’t no fun and games. I mean, seven grown adults going down there? Got to be something, man.”
Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo
In this image from a surveillance video provided by AKI AUTO CARE, three people descend into a sewer on a street in New York, on May 5, 2026. (AKI AUTO CARE via AP)
In this image from a surveillance video provided by AKI AUTO CARE, one of three people descends into a sewer on a street in New York, on May 5, 2026. (AKI AUTO CARE via AP)
