LG Electronics has hit a major milestone, shipping 10 million OLED televisions since the launch of its first model back in 2012.
Display industry analyst firm Omdia told Yonhap that LG took around 7-8 years to ship its first five million OLED TVs. Sales have rapidly accelerated since then, and the company was able to move the next five million in just two years, according to the report.
Illustrating this acceleration of OLED TV sales, Omdia said LG sold 899,000 units during the July to September quarter, up more than 80% from the same period one year ago. It added that the company has shipped a total of 2.63 million OLED TVs in the year to date, up 100% from a year ago, and has already surpassed last year’s total OLED TV shipments.
Omdia’s report didn’t disclose OLED TV sales from other companies that sell them, such as Sony, Panasonic and Philips. However, it revealed that global OLED TV shipments hit 1.53 million in the third quarter, and forecast more than 2 million to be sold in Q4. For the full year, Omdia expects total OLED TV sales of 6.5 million, up 80% from a year ago.
LG Electronics accounts for the lion’s share of those global sales at almost 60%, Omdia said. OLED TV sales are expected to account for more than 30% of its overall TV business revenue, the report added.
The South Korean firm unveiled its first OLED TV, a 55-inch 1080p model, in early 2012 and it launched later that year in a few select markets, before becoming globally available in 2013. It was incredibly expensive at the time, with a price tag of around $8,000 and just one size to choose from.
These days though consumers have a lot more options when it comes to buying an OLED TV and the technology is much more affordable, hence the rising sales. LG Electronics currently sells various OLED models ranging from 48-inches to 88-inches with either 4K or 8K resolution. Next year, it’s expected LG will launch its first 42-inch and 97-inch OLED models.
The OLED TV market has become so big that LG’s arch-rival, Samsung Electronics, can no longer continue to ignore it. Samsung showed off its first OLED prototypes at the same time as LG but later abandoned the technology due to low production yields. However, the company is all set to re-enter the market next year with the anticipated launch of its new QD-OLED TVs that merge OLED technology with the quantum dots used on its high-end New QLED TVs. Sony is also expected to launch QD-OLED TVs next year.
Meanwhile, LG’s dominance in OLED may also come under threat from China’s TCL, which is believed to be getting closer to commercialising its rival inkjet-printed OLED display tech.
