Chinese TV Makers Trailing Closely
A TV war has heated up between two Korean home appliance giants – Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics – at IFA 2023, Europe’s largest consumer electronics and information technology show. While the two Korean TV giants are leading the premium TV market with their strong technological competitiveness, Chinese companies are in hot pursuit of the two Korean TV makers.
At the Messe Berlin Exhibition Center in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 2 (local time), Samsung Electronics took the wraps off a lineup of 98-inch ultra-large TV models under the strategy of “the bigger, the better,” while LG Electronics displayed only the world’s first wireless organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV, “the LG Signature OLED M TV,” emphasizing its technological prowess. The two companies have employed different strategies.
“People have endless desire for big TVs, I think,” said Jung Kang-il, senior vice president of the Next Generation Planning Group at Samsung Electronics’ Video Display Business Department in a meeting with reporters held on Aug. 1. “Demand for ultra-large and high-resolution TVs is on the uptick. We are keeping various possibilities open for ultra-large TVs, and we are also considering launching 100-inch or larger TV models.”
LG Electronics, on the other hand, believes that ultra-large products over 100 inches are meaningless. “When TCL of China exhibited a 115-inch TV model and I asked TCL about where to sell the giant TV model, the Chinese TV maker told me that there are 20 million villas in China and TCL will sell the model to such villas in China,” said Baek Sun-pil, senior vice president of product planning at LG Electronics’ Home Entertainment Business Division in a technical briefing. “I don’t see a market for TVs with screens of 100 or more inches in the world and the TV market is forming below 100 inches. LG Electronics has no plan to make such big TV models for villas in China.”
The global TV market is expected to reach US$96.5 billion this year, down 5.8 percent from 2022, as demand for TVs has declined since COVID-19, according to market research firm Omdia. However, despite this trend, ultra-large and premium TV models are continuing to grow.
In the global TV market, the share of 70-inch or bigger TVs is expected to grow from 20.2 percent in 2022 to 26.3 percent in 2027, and that of 60-inch to 65-inch TV models from 22.5 percent in 2022 to 26.1 percent in 2027. On the other hand, the share of 50-inch to 59-inch TVs will contract from 32.6 percent in 2022 to 27.6 percent in 2027, that of 40-inch to 49-inch TVs from 16.5 percent in 2022 to 13.7 percent in 2027, and that of 39-inch or smaller TV models will slide from 8.3 percent in 2022 to 6.3 percent in 2027.
Chinese companies launched a bunch of mini light-emitting diode (LED) products, a type of liquid crystal display (LCD), at the exhibition, calling the two Korean TV makers competitors. The two Korean TV makers show different strategies to counter this, with Samsung touting technology and LG touting form factor ideas.
“Even the same mini LED displays can produce much clearer images with various image quality algorithms and expertise, so it doesn’t matter that the technology itself has the same name,” Jung said. But Baek said, “A 27-inch monitor costs 200,000 to 300,000 won, while the LG StanByMe Monitor of the same size costs 1 million won. Form factor ideas create such price gaps so they really matter.”
Samsung and LG have different views on micro-LED products. “Micro LEDs are a solution that can overcome all the shortcomings and limitations of current displays. I think micro LED displays are the next big thing,” Samsung said. But LG said, “Even low-cost micro LED TVs made in China cost more than 140 million to 150 million won per unit. Unless the price of a micro LED TV falls below 10 million won, the micro LED TV market will not grow. I think it will take more than five years for the micro LED TV market to grow.”
Meanwhile, the title of the largest TV at IFA went to TCL. The Chinese TV maker displayed a 163-inch 4K micro LED cinema wall. However, since micro LEDs are assembled by putting modules together, miniaturization is regarded as the key to securing a technological competitive advantage in the micro LED TV market. “The LED diodes need to be tightly put together one by one, and it is important to reduce their gaps,” said an industry insider, adding, “If you look closely at Chinese products, you can see borderlines at connected spots as if they were cracked.”
Another Chinese TV maker, HiSense, displayed an 85-inch ULED TV model based on mini LEDs to showcase its cost-effectiveness, while CHiQ displayed a 55-inch transparent OLED screen to show off its technological power. “CHiQ’s transparent OLED screen is a product that utilizes display panels from LG Display,” said a Korean display industry insider.
The brakes were put on a plan for the debut of Samsung Electronics’ OLED TV model, despite being highly anticipated thanks to a collaboration between Samsung Electronics and LG Display. Initially, Samsung had planned to showcase an 83-inch OLED 4K TV model utilizing LG Display’s OLED panels in an IFA preview event but pulled out from the showcase on the opening day. According to industry insiders, the two companies have been blaming each other over panel and product issues.