Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2025: summary

The Indian television market was valued at USD 12,267 million towards the end of 2024, as per Custom Market Insights and is only expected to grow from here on. The market has varied screen sizes and display technology options to choose from, courtesy of brands such as Sony, Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, Hisense, and others. To understand the market better, we at 91mobiles conducted the Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2025 and asked over 3,000 participants about their TV-buying journey, their preferred brand, and the most important aspects they look for.

With the final data in our hands garnered from the participants’ responses, here’s a summary of the final survey report.

Sony leads in terms of TV ownership

• From our survey results, we found that Sony currently accounts for 23.4 percent of TV ownership share among the participants. This is followed by Samsung with a share of 20.4 percent.
• LG slots in the third position with 17 percent of the survey respondents owning an LG TV.
• Xiaomi and TCL also cater to a good chunk of people with 12.8 percent and 3.5 percent shares, respectively.

Sony’s ownership share saw a rise, while VU’s ownership took a hit

• Compared to last year’s TV survey from 91mobiles, Sony’s ownership share among the respondents grew by 7.2 percent, from 16.2 percent to 23.4 percent.
• Similarly, Xiaomi and Samsung’s userbase rose by 2.3 percent each, while ownership for VU TVs declined by 0.3 percent.

Sony and Samsung are winning when it comes to brand loyalty

• When survey takers were asked if they would stick to their current brand for their next TV, 71.6 percent of the Sony TV owners claimed they would buy a Sony TV again.
• Right behind Sony is Samsung with a brand loyalty of 63.7 percent, while Infinix and Hisense account for 50 percent brand loyalty each.
• It appears that the survey respondents prefer TCL and Panasonic the least for their next TV purchase.

Picture quality is the most sought-after aspect

• We surveyed respondents on what matters most in a TV, and unsurprisingly, nearly half emphasised picture quality as their top priority.
• A good chunk of TV users also seek smart features on a new TV, possibly for easy navigation and content recommendation.
• The core aspects of a TV, such as screen size, sound quality, and connectivity options, also play an important role in choosing the right TV. 

Significant importance is given to a TV’s display technology

• Among the 3,000 and above survey takers, the display technology is given the highest priority when evaluating a new TV. This includes analysing the technology the TV carries, such as OLED, QLED, FALD, and others.
• After display technology, approximately 21 percent of the people in the survey assess the TV’s display size when purchasing a new TV.
• Finally, 7.3 percent of the survey respondents also give importance to the refresh rate when evaluating a TV’s display.

TVs are utilised the most for streaming OTT content

• The primary use case of a TV for 68 percent of the survey respondents is to access and stream OTT content from apps such as Netflix, JioHotstar, Prime Video, etc.
• Since DTH connections are still common among Indian households, 19 percent of the TV owners have a set-top box to watch their favourite TV channels across genres.
• Interestingly, 1.6 percent of users engage in games on their TVs.

UI and system navigation on a TV is a crucial aspect for most

• The software goes a long way in making or breaking the experience of using a TV. Hence, when the survey takers were asked about the importance of user interface and navigation, 57 percent of them said this aspect is ‘very important’.
• Around 25 percent of the users claimed the user interface and navigation is ‘somewhat important’ while 13.8 percent of them were on the fence.
• The UI and navigation capabilities of a smart TV are not at all important to the remaining respondents.

Google TV tops the charts for being the most preferred operating system

• When it comes to TV operating system preference, Google TV sweeps the competition with 79.3 percent of votes falling in its favour. Google TV offers a content-oriented UI for users to easily find what to view based on their watch history
• Proprietary TV software from major brands such as Tizen OS (Samsung), WebOS (LG), Fire TV OS (Amazon), Jio Tele OS, and others are preferred by 14.3 percent of participants overall.

Video and audio enhancement features are in great demand

• To understand and know which new-age features are the most sought after, we provided the survey takers with several options, of which video enhancement features such as Dolby Vision IQ, HDR 10+, etc., were picked by 56 percent of the people.
• Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and similar audio features are considered to be important to 19.3 percent of respondents.

Ownership of 32-inch TVs dropped significantly, while TVs with 43-inch displays saw great growth

• TVs with screen sizes of 32 inches or below are the most popular TVs the survey takers currently own. But what’s interesting is that the ownership of 32-inch TVs has fallen by almost half compared to last year, where almost 51 percent of the respondents had TVs of the said display size in our 2024 TV survey.
• The 43-inch TV ranks as the second most popular size among users. This year’s survey reveals nearly double the ownership share for 43-inch TVs compared to last year, reflecting significant growth in their popularity.
• 17.2 percent and 14.7 percent of survey takers own TVs with display sizes of 50-inch and 55-inch, while only 3.1 percent have a 75-inch or above TV.

55-inch TVs could see a high growth in future

• 24.2 percent of the survey takers are willing to purchase a TV with a display size of 55 inches, while 50-inch TVs are also likely to be considered by one in five people.
• When purchasing a new TV, around 15 percent are willing to grab a TV with a 65-inch screen size.
• TVs with 40-inch and below screen sizes are the least in demand.

Survey respondents purchase TVs online or offline, depending on the price

• If the price of a TV is the same online and offline, almost 50 percent of the survey takers may purchase the TV from offline shops, while 40 percent will resort to online platforms.
• If the price of a TV is Rs 1,000 cheaper online than offline, 57.6 percent of the respondents stick to e-commerce platforms for purchasing the TV, while 31.5 percent of survey participants may shop for the TV from retail shops.
• If the price of a TV is Rs 1,000 cheaper offline than online, 67.7 percent of the respondents visit offline shops for purchasing the TV, while 19.5 percent of survey participants resort to online platforms.