LG's OLED TVs Gaining Popularity in Japan
LG Electronics has launched an organic light emitting diode (OLED) TV with an 8K resolution in the Japanese market.
LG Electronics recently launched the LG Signature OLED TV, an 88-inch 8K OLED TV, through a distributor in Japan. The TV is selling at Japanese department stores and major stores. Its price is in the 5 million won range.
LG Electronics launched 8K OLED TVs in Korea in June and later in the United States and Europe, but this was the first time that the company launched it in Japan. The LG TV is the first 8K TV based on an OLED panel, not a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, to be released to the Japanese market. As 8K content is expected to increase sharply ahead of the Tokyo Olympics next year, LG Electronics is seeking to preempt the 8K TV market, TV market experts say.
"We expect demand for 8K TVs to grow in the Japanese market following the Tokyo Olympic Games next year," an LG Electronics official said. “As competitors such as Sony and Sharp have not released 8K OLED TVs yet, we think that we can take a competitive edge."
LG Electronics has emerged as a major player in the Japanese TV market as LG OLED TVs are gaining popularity. Global market researcher IHS Markit said that LG accounted for 10.2 percent of the Japanese OLED TV market in the third quarter of this year, taking fourth place after Sony (40 percent), Panasonic (36.8 percent) and HiSense (11.4 percent).
Japan has been a very tough market for Korean companies to survive due to Japanese consumers’ strong preferences for Japanese products such as Sony and Sharp. Samsung Electronics also withdrew from the Japanese TV display market in 2007 even though it has been a major global TV powerhouse.
LG Electronics, on the other hand, is leading an OLED TV boom with its premium products. Sales of OLED TVs from LG Electronics in Japan grew more than five times to US$69.89 million in 2018 from US$13.45 million in 2016. Industry watchers believe that LG’s market share will increase in Japan with the release of its 8K OLED TVs.
LG Electronics also launched the G8X ThinQ, a dual-screen smartphone in the Japanese market in one year and 11 months since the V30 Plus in January of last year.