South Korean TV makers have lost ground in the global market in the face of Chinese rivals and faltering TV demand worldwide, a report showed Friday.
  

The combined share of Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., two major South Korean players, came to 34.8 percent in the first half, down 4.3 percentage points from a year ago, according to the latest report by market tracker DisplaySearch.
  

Samsung's share dipped to 20.8 percent, while LG's retreated to 13.9 percent over the same period, the report said.
  

In the meantime, Chinese makers saw their combined share soar 4.6 percentage points to 25.9 percent over the cited period.
  

TCL Corp.'s share increased to 5.7 percent from 5.1 percent, and its local rival Hisense Co. also bolstered its presence to 5.4 percent of the global share from 4.9 percent.
  

South Korean companies' TV sales have slowed over the past year. Samsung sold 24.1 million units in the first six months of 2015, down 15.2 percent from the previous year. LG's TV sales sank 16 percent on-year to 13.6 million units as of end-June.
  

In contrast, Chinese makers boosted their combined sales to 25.4 million units from 21.9 million units during that time.
  

Market watchers said Korean makers could face more hurdles down the road as a cheaper yuan will deal a blow to their profits in the future. 
  

Last week, the People's Bank of China devalued its currency by more than 4 percent over three consecutive days as part of an effort to prop up its slowing economy.
  

A weaker yuan is a disadvantage for Korean exporters since it undermines their price competitiveness versus Chinese rivals in the global market.
  

China's move may further hurt Korean companies that have already been struggling to vie with Japanese firms backed by a cheaper currency, market watchers here said, adding there is a need to draw up fresh strategies that will help tide over the slackening sales.
  

The cumulative half-yearly global TV sales fell below the 100 million-unit mark for the first time since 2009 to reach 97.9 million units, according to DisplaySearch. (Yonhap)