OLED Explosion

A curved OLED screen by LG.
A curved OLED screen by LG.

 

The sales volume of OLED TVs, which are cited as next-gen TVs, reportedly grew 317 percent year-on-year to reach 75,600 units in the first half of this year. Last year, only 18,000 units were sold. However, OLED TVs represent less than 1 percent of the total TV market, and so the OLED TV market has a long way to go in order to enter a boom period.

According to market research firm IHS iSuppli on Sept. 30, 75,600 OLED TVs were sold in the first half, up 317 percent from a year ago. The sales volume of LCD TVs slightly decreased to 9,686 units during the same period. The figure for CRT TVs and PDP TVs dropped 59 percent and 95 percent each.

Industry analysts are saying that around 90 percent of 75,600 OLED TVs sold in the first half are made by LG Electronics. Until last year, the tech company was the only Korean OLED TV vendor, and it comprised nearly 100 percent of the OLED TV market. However, its share fell to the 90 percent level in the last quarter of this year, since Skyworth, Chang Hong, Haier, Hisense, and Vestal Elektronik entered the market.

Despite a decline in its share of the OLED TV market, LG appears to be positive. The optimism is due to the fact that it is more important to expand the market in the mid to long term, rather than maintain the current market share.

Meanwhile, much attention is being paid to Samsung Electronics, the world's largest TV vendor. Samsung's entry into the OLED TV market is likely to speed up market expansion. The company is reportedly scheduled to roll out OLED TVs in a year, but it has yet to plan new products. Samsung is working to develop OLED TVs that can create colors with each RGB pixel without a color filter, different from existing products. Japanese TV makers like Panasonic and Sharp are also involved in research and development to increase the productivity of OLED TVs, along with 8K TVs.

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