On the Back of Strong OLED Panel Sales
LG Display regained its No. 1 spot in the global TV display market in the fourth quarter of 2021 on the back of strong sales of OLED panels.
The company’s share stood at 23.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, beating Chinese display company BOE (20.6 percent), according to market research firm Omdia. It ranked first in the fourth quarter of 2020, but remained in second place until the third quarter of 2021.
LG Display's sales of OLED products climbed due to a surge in sales of high-end TVs, analysts say. The company’s OLED TV panel sales exceeded 2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2021, the first time on a quarterly basis. Its OLED TV panel sales revenue swelled 28 percent on year to US$1.45 billion.
Annual sales of OLED TV panels increased 65 percent on year to 7.4 million units in 2021. Omdia predicted that LG Display will maintain its No. 1 ranking with a 23.9 percent share in 2022. Currently, global companies such as Sony and Panasonic in Japan have entered the OLED TV market. Samsung Electronics recently introduced OLED TVs to North America, pushing up the number of brands that sell OLED TVs to 20.
The OLED TV market is growing rapidly, led by premium TVs. OLED TVs’ share in the market of high-end TVs worth more than US$1,500 per unit rose from 26 percent in 2019 to 41 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, and is expected to ascend to 42.1 percent in 2022, Omdia says.