Who Will Be Final Winner?
On March 18, LG Electronics released new TVs in South Korea and Samsung Electronics launched new TVs in the United States. The new TVs of Samsung Electronics make their debut next month in the South Korean market.
Competition between Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics has continued for long in the premium TV market. Samsung Electronics topped the global TV market for 12 years in a row until last year, but LG Electronics is a very strong contender in the premium TV market.
LG Electronics’ weapon is OLED TVs, in which each pixel generates light. The OLED TVs are characterized by being capable of showing a perfect black color and require no backlight, which means they can be very thin.
LG Electronics is planning to further develop its OLED TVs by means of artificial intelligence (AI) for higher image quality and greater convenience. The Alpha 9 Engine in the TVs removes noise in four different stages and achieves the optimum contrast ratio and saturation by separating objects and their background from each other. LG Electronics recently released a total of 10 models, including voice recognition TVs, ranging from 55 inches to 77 inches and three million won (US$2,700) to 24 million won (US$21,600).
Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, is concentrating on QLED TVs. These products have an officially recognized color volume of 100% and their sizes are up to 88 inches.
The new products of Samsung Electronics come with an ambient mode, in which the products provide daily living information such as news and weather even when they are off. In addition, AI assistant Bixby and SmartThings app connect the TVs to smartphones and a variety of home appliances.