QLED Panels Used for Low-priced TVs
Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus will load QLED panels onto TVs to be released in India in September. As the proportion of low-priced products increases in the QLED TV market, the premium image of QLED TVs which Samsung Electronics has promoted might weaken, market watchers say.
OnePlus recently tweeted that new OnePlus TV models will be loaded with 55-inch QLED displays. It encouraged customers to upgrade their viewing experiences with the new models. This means that OnePlus joined the QLED group led by Samsung Electronics, following China's TCL and Hisense, and U.S. Vizio.
India is a representative low-priced TV market. China's Xiaomi, which distinguished itself from others with low TV prices, was the overwhelming No. 1 player in the Indian TV market in the first quarter. It had a 39 percent market share, more than double the runner-up LG Electronics’ 15 percent. "We will sell TVs at lower prices than Samsung in collaboration with Amazon," Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus, said in an interview with a foreign news media outlet.
The share of low-priced models is on a sharp rise in the QLED TV market. Earlier this year, market researcher IHS Markit predicted that sales of low-priced models (under US$1,000) accounted for 3.9 percent of all QLED TVs sold in the first half, but the actual proportion hit 18.5 percent, about five times higher than the estimate. As the basis of QLED displays is LCD panels, TV market analysts say that a recent plunge in LCD prices prompted low-priced TV companies to enter the QLED TV business one after another.
Market analysts expect that Samsung will speed up a shift to next generation premium TVs. Currently, Samsung Display is developing QD-OLED technology based on OLEDs, and Samsung Electronics is promoting micro LED technology.