The race for dominance in 4K ultra high-definition (UHD) TV panel market is heating up, with LG Display finally surpassing its arch-rival Samsung for the first time, according to data from May 2014.
According to television industry research specialists NPD DisplaySearch, LG now controls 27.6 percent of the global 4K Ultra HD panel market, up from 22.9 percent the previous month. In contrast, Samsung’s UHDTV panel market share slipped to just 22.2 percent, from 23.4 percent the month before.
However, the South Korean powerhouses still trail market leader Innolux, which remains the world’s number one 4KTV panel maker with a 36.7 percent share of the market. Things might not stay that way for long though, as Innolux’s grip seems to be slipping fast – as recently as January, it accounted for a whopping 70 percent of all 4K TV panels shipped, which means it’s lost almost half of its market share in the space of just four months.
So why the sudden change? Simply because LG and Samsung have ramped up their efforts drastically since the beginning of this year, rolling out low-end 4K panels in a bid to dominate the market. For example, LG shipped some 392,000 4K panels in May, compared to just 26,000 units in December 2013.
Readers should note that these stats only concern big-screen 4K panels, not actual TVs, and so Samsung fanbois have no reason to get their knickers in a twist just yet. Part of the reason for LG’s strong showing is that the company supplies its panels to other manufacturers such as Panasonic and Sony in addition to selling its own Ultra HD televisions.
There’s still no word on the percentage of LED LCD vs OLED panels, though we’re hopeful that the latter will be growing in proportion given its infinitely superior contrast performance owing to true 0 cd/m2 blacks.
Source: Yonhap via The Korea Herald