????近來，電視機的出貨量和銷售量低迷依舊。根據市場研究公司TrendForce的數據，今年1月，全球平板電視的出貨量僅有6,507萬臺，較上個月下跌了12%。

????電視機產業的亮點是什么呢？這個亮點是，名為“4K”的下一代顯示技術——也被稱為“超高清晰度電視”（Ultra-HDTV）或“超高畫質”（UHD）——預計將在2014年蓬勃發展。使用這種技術的屏幕分辨率將達到以前的四倍。不過引領這個潮流的國家卻并不是美國，而是中國。

????市場研究公司NPD集團（NPD Group）的DisplaySearch估計，今年中國將在4K電視機市場上占據78%的份額。這個比例比起2013年的87%已經有所下滑，但仍然是世界其他地區之和的三倍。即便其他地區現在開始追趕，中國依然會在明年的4K電視出貨量上保持領先地位。

????NPD DisplaySearch全球電視產業調研總監保羅?蓋格南告訴《財富》雜志：“其他國家的4K電視市場也會有所增長。大部分地區在2014年都會有兩位數的年增長率。”

????蓋格南表示，4K電視之所以能夠在中國蓬勃發展，主要原因是中國的消費水平得到了迅速提升。他說：“實際上，中國有兩類消費者在購買電視機。一種是農村地區可能還沒有電視機的人，另一種是可能是城市里一些希望擁有兩臺平板電視的小康家庭。與美國相比，中國城市市場更換電視機的速度要快得多。”

????在美國，由于4K電視價格高昂，因此還處在公眾接受的初期階段。但在中國，4K電視市場實際上已經變成了大眾市場。

????市場研究公司The Diffusion Group顯示技術資深分析師喬爾?艾斯派林說：“有幾個因素導致了這種現象。中國的視頻市場年輕得多，所以裝機基數較小。而在美國和西歐，電視市場已經非常飽和，如今人們購買新電視往往只是為了換掉舊的。”

????中國制造商已經意識到了這一點。以往，他們最新、最先進的電視型號可能都會推向北美和西歐的發達國家市場。而如今，包括TCL和海信（Hisense）在內的中國電視制造商開始樂于控制國內市場。海信美國區的營銷副總裁喬納森?弗蘭克說：“從全球范圍來看，中國對4K電視的銷售至關重要。我們發現，4K電視在中國的接受程度最高，發展速度最快。同時，中國也有著更多現成的4K視頻內容，這反過來也促進了電視的銷量。”

????弗蘭克表示，在海信的公司戰略中，中國將永遠占有首要地位，而美國則緊隨其后。它意味著中國制造商也許能夠壓低這項昂貴技術的價格，從而加快推動步伐，使它在發達國家市場進入主流。弗蘭克強調：“海信一直支持‘可實現的技術’。話雖如此，由于4K是一項相對較新的技術，我們沒有理由現在就展開‘擠壓利潤的競爭’。”

????如今在美國，4K電視機的價格是普通高清電視的三到四倍。但在中國，4K電視的價格只高出了30%。蓋格南說：“4K電視機的制造成本并未達到普通電視的四倍。所以目前制造商有能力降低價格。我們現在發現，頂級品牌有更多特色功能，不過這種新型電視價格昂貴，給制造商帶來了高額利潤。”這意味著制造商的零售價很可能會下跌。

????Lately, shipments and sales of televisions are about as flat as the sets. According to the market research firm TrendForce, panel shipments for TVs amounted to just 65.07 million units in January, dropping 12% month-to-month.

????The one bright side for the industry? Next-generation display technology called 4K -- it's also known as Ultra-HDTV or UHD -- is poised to take off in 2014, bringing four times the resolution to the screen. But it isn't America that is leading the way.

????It's China.

????NPD Group's DisplaySearch forecast that China will account for 78% of the 4K TV market, which is actually down from an 87% share in 2013. In 2014, China will lead all other regions combined by a factor of three. Even as other regions begin catch-up, China will remain the leading region for 4K TV shipments next year.

????"There is going to be growth in the rest of the market, but the Chinese growth dwarfs everything else," Paul Gagnon, director for global TV research at NPD DisplaySearch, told Fortune. "Most regions are seeing double-digit growth in 2014 over 2013."

????The primary driver is the rapid consumerization underway in the country, Gagnon said. "There are actually two groups of TV buyers in China," he said. "There is the rural region where people might not even have a TV, and then there are the well-to-do urban households where they might own two flat panel TVs. That urban market is now replacing the TVs at a more rapid rate than what we've seen in the United States."

????In the United States, 4K remains very much in the early adopter phase due to high prices. In China, it has essentially become mass market.

????"There are a few causes for this," said Joel Espelien, senior analyst for display technology at The Diffusion Group. "The Chinese video market is a lot younger so there is less of an install base, while in the United States and Western Europe you have a wildly saturated market where people are very much now only buying new TVs as a replacement."

????Chinese manufacturers have taken notice. Previously, the newest and most advanced models might have been pushed to developed markets in North America and Western Europe. Now, Chinese TV makers including TCL and Hisense are happy to control the marketplace in their own backyard. "On the global scale, China is incredibly important for the sale of 4K TVs," Jonathan Frank, vice president of marketing at Hisense USA said. "We are seeing the largest adoption and growth in China, and there is much more readily available 4K content, which in turn drives sales."

????China will always be a primary part of the Hisense strategy, but the U.S. will be a close second, Frank said. Which means Chinese manufacturers may be able to drive down prices for the expensive technology, accelerating its push into the mainstream in developed markets. "Hisense has always stood for 'attainable technology,'" Frank stressed. "Having said that, with 4K being a relatively new technology there is no reason to enter the 'race to zero' yet."

????Today, 4K TVs are about three to four times the price of a regular HDTV set in the U.S. In China, 4K sets are about 30% higher. "The cost to produce 4K is not four times," Gagnon said. "So the ability to make them cheaper now already exists. What we are seeing is that the top-tier brands have more features, but this is a new category that comes with a high price and for the manufacturers provides a high profit."Which means the MSRP is likely to fall.