LG Electronics dominated a global OLED television market that saw sales increase by more than 80% in the last year to over 6.5 million units.
The report from market analyst Omdia shows that LG is the clear leader of a fast-growing OLED TV segment that now comprises around 20 brands. The company reportedly accounted for 62% of all OLED TV sales in 2021, with more than 4.04 million units shipped in total.
Interestingly, the report highlights how OLED TV sales appear to have accelerated towards the end of the year, with LG recording 1.4 million OLED TV units shipped in the fourth quarter alone. That’s more than double the number it shipped a year before.
Omdia said the OLED TV market will continue to expand in 2022 and is now forecasting sales of more than 8 million by the end of the year. That’s not only good news for LG Electronics, which will likely retain its dominance of the market, but also LG Display, its subsidiary that was, up until a few months ago, the world’s only supplier of OLED panels for televisions.
LG Display is expected to ramp up production capacity in 2022 in anticipation of competition this year from its rival Samsung Display, which is entering the OLED TV market for the first time with its new QD-OLED displays.
At present, LG Display supplies OLED TV displays to around 20 brands, including Bang & Olufsen, Changhong, Grundig, Hisense, Konka, Metz, LG Electronics, Loewe, Panasonic, Philips, Skyworth, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, Vizio, and Xiaomi. It’s widely expected to add Samsung Electronics to that list this year, with its Korean rival said to be interested in buying 1.5 million OLED panels.
At the same time, Samsung Display has already announced it is supplying Sony with its new QD-OLED panels, and it’s expected that Samsung Electronics will also procure many of them.
Omdia said the rising interest in OLED means that they’ll account for 42% of all sales in the “high-end TV market”, which it defines as TVs that cost $1,500 or more.
As for the overall TV market, global shipments dropped slightly to 213 million units due to what Omdia said were weaker LCD TV sales. Samsung Electronics is the world’s leading TV manufacturer in terms of overall revenue, followed by LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense.
