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March 29, 2024

Samsung, LG lock horns in premium TV market

PUBLISHED : March 25, 2019 - 14:05

UPDATED : March 25, 2019 - 14:05

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As South Korea’s tech titans launch their latest TVs, they are, once again, in fierce competition to promote their own cutting-edge screen technologies and expand their market presence.

Consumers who want the best picture quality TVs available will look to OLED TVs by LG Electronics and QLED models by Samsung Electronics which cost several thousand dollars, with prices varying depending on the size and features. 


Despite the similar-looking acronyms, the technologies for OLED and QLED are different.

Unlike most LED TVs, which require an array of lights behind the layer of pixels, each pixel on an OLED generates its own light, meaning that pixels can turn themselves off completely to make the screen totally black. This can lead to superior contrast and energy savings.

QLED is a Samsung-specific marketing term for TVs that use quantum dot technology to enhance performance in key picture quality areas, though other manufacturers have also come out with their own quantum-based TVs in recent years.

While OLED and QLED TVs each have their own advantages and disadvantages in different settings, the latest industry data show that they are in a very tight race when it comes to sales amount and unit in the global market.

According to market tracker IHS Markit, global sales of QLED TV stood at 2.68 million units in 2018, above OLED TV’s 2.51 million.

QLEDs posted solid growth in the October-December months during the global shopping season, highlighted by Black Friday. Some 1.1 million sets of the premium TV were estimated to have been shipped during the fourth quarter alone, compared with 895,000 for OLED TVs.

The 2018 sales amount, however, was higher for OLEDs at $6.53 million compared with $6.34 million for QLEDs.

Samsung has been pitching its QLED lineup at big discounts in North America. It is planning to release QLED TVs, this year, after the launch at home and in Europe in the fourth quarter, offering promotions in major markets.

As the neck-and-neck data indicate, companies are betting that this year is a critical time to shape the industry’s landscape for the premium-end market. Samsung and LG are aggressively pitching their own technologies in industry shows and showcase events, sometimes making the rival’s products look less attractive.

 By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)

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