Samsung marks 20 years as the world's best-selling TV brand: what the claim means for buyers
In an open letter on 29 October, Samsung thanked customers for 20 consecutive years at number one. It is a milestone worth knowing about, though sales rank is not the same as picture quality.
By Andrew Ingleton · Published
Samsung's UK newsroom published an open letter on 29 October 2026 celebrating what it calls 20 years as the world's number one TV brand. The company says it first took the top spot in 2006 and cites market research firm Omdia (February 2026) for its 29.1% share of the global market in 2025. The letter's own footnote notes that the ranking is not an endorsement of Samsung.
Samsung's timeline
The letter picks out its own milestones: reaching number one in 2006 with the Bordeaux TV; helping drive the move to LED TVs in 2009; smart TVs in 2011; The Serif in 2015; The Frame and QLED TVs in 2017; 8K in 2018; Micro LED in 2020; and in 2025 its first Micro RGB TV, a 115-inch model with a backlight of RGB LEDs smaller than 100 micrometres. It adds that the R95H and R85H Micro RGB models followed. It also mentions art partnerships with the British Museum and the Louvre for The Frame, accessibility features such as Relumino Mode, and Samsung Knox for privacy, and says future work will focus on AI-enhanced viewing.
What it tells you, and what it does not
A sales lead means Samsung ships a lot of sets across every price band, including cheap ones. It says little about whether a particular model suits your living room. Useful buying questions are different: how bright is it in a daylight room, how good is its processing of low-resolution TV channels, which streaming apps does it carry, and how long will it receive software updates?
For that, start with our guide to OLED, QD-OLED, Mini LED and RGB Mini LED technologies, and our look at what the rumoured 111-inch OLED would mean for pricing. If you plan to pair a TV with a streamer, see our streaming box comparison and the new Apple TV 4K.
A note on the letter
This is a marketing document. It also contains unfilled "[London]" placeholders in several places, which suggests it was templated for different countries. The market-share figures are Samsung's, quoted from Omdia, and we have not checked them independently. There are no new products or prices in it.
Source: Samsung Newsroom UK, 29 October 2026 (An Open Letter to our Customers).
