Global ODM TV shipments by the top-15 suppliers reached 84.9 million units in 2017, increasing 18.1% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Simgaintell.

However, global TV shipments by brand vendors saw a decline of 4% on year to 228 million units in 2017, said the market research firm.

Outsourced orders by brand TV vendors increased 15% on year in 2107 as brand vendors were seeking to scale down production costs caused by high panel prices by outsourcing more of their entry-level models to ODMs.

TPV Technology remained the largest ODM TV supplier in 2017 with shipments growing 2.6% on year to 16.3 million units. Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai) ranked second with shipments increasing 72.8% to 14.6 million units, buoyed by its acquisition of Sharp.

Among major China-based ODMs, TCL SCBC saw its shipments grow 24.3% on year to 8.3 million units; BOE VT (BOE Vision-Electronic Technology) ramped up its shipments by 12.5% to 7.7 million units; and CNC Optronics (Chunghsin Industry Group) increased its shipments by 30% to 7.6 million units. Shenzhen MTC's shipment expanded 25.7% to 6.5 million units.

Outsourced TV shipments by the top-15 ODMs are expected to reach 88.5 million units in 2018, up 4.2% on year, Sigmaintell estimated.