OLED televisions are rapidly becoming the number one choice for consumers in Europe and the technology is set to become the most dominant within its premium TV sector this year. 

New data from Omdia shows that the market researcher expects OLED TVs to command a 55% market share in Europe this year, rising to 66% in 2023, according to a report by ETNews. 

According to that report, Omdia defines the premium TV segment as those models that cost $1,500 or more. It’s a definition that excludes a lot of higher-end 55-inch OLED TVs, including the LG B1 and C1, and also some 65-inch OLED models. 

Omdia helpfully explains that OLED (including QD-OLED) is one of three TV display technologies widely sold by television manufacturers in the present day, along with LCD TVs and LED TVs (including Mini-LED and MicroLED). 

The market share of OLED TVs in Europe rose from 32.1% in 2019 to 47.7% in 2021, according to Omdia’s numbers. And it’s forecasting that OLED will increase its share again, to 55% in 2022, before grabbing almost two-thirds of the entire premium TV segment in 2023. 

Omdia said LCD TVs remain popular for larger screen sizes, especially in the 75-inch to 85-inch segment, where OLED TVs are still very expensive. That said, 77-inch OLED TVs are becoming more affordable so this could change in future years, Omdia pointed out. Larger screen sizes may take a few years to become cheaper. The first 83-inch OLED TVs only went on sale last year, and the first 97-inch OLEDs are set to launch later this year. 

The data shows that Europe will account for approximately 23% of all TV sales this year. Omdia forecasts a total of 213.5 million TV units to be sold in 2022. If its numbers are correct, it will mean that Europe will be the biggest single market for TVs this year, with North America expected to account for just 22% of all sales. Apparently, part of the reason for this is that European consumers generally buy more premium products than their American counterparts. 

Last year, around 2.9 million OLED TVs were sold in Europe, accounting for 44% of all sales globally. That number is expected to rise to 3.4 million units this year. 

In terms of manufacturers, LG Electronics commands the lion’s share of the European OLED TV market with 65.8% of all sales, followed by Sony at 17% and Philips at 11%.