LG Electronics Breaks Through COVID-19, OLED TV Shipments Surpass 2 Million Units Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] LG Electronics' annual shipment of OLED TVs surpassed 2 million units for the first time last year. LG Electronics continues its steady growth by proving its brand power in the premium TV market alongside the stay-at-home demand caused by COVID-19.

According to market research firm Omdia on the 24th, LG OLED TV's annual shipment reached approximately 2.047 million units last year. This represents a 23.8% growth compared to the 2019 shipment volume, and notably, it set a quarterly record by shipping about 864,000 units in the fourth quarter alone.

Considering that the average selling price (ASP) of LG OLED TVs was close to $2,000 last year, this growth is significant. The ASP of LG OLED TVs was $1,972 (approximately 2.18 million KRW), which is 4.6 times the average price of LCD TVs sold globally at $428.

Global OLED TV shipments last year recorded about 3.652 million units, an increase of more than 20% compared to the previous year. LG Electronics is the only company to exceed 2 million units in shipments while maintaining a high average price of over 2 million KRW in the OLED TV market.

Global OLED TV shipments in the fourth quarter reached 1.52 million units, marking the beginning of the "million units per quarter era." In the fourth quarter, OLED TVs accounted for 2.2% of the global TV market by volume and exceeded 9% by value for the first time, setting an all-time high.

The reason LG OLED TVs maintain a dominant position in the premium market is that the overwhelming performance of "self-emissive" OLED TVs is recognized by consumers who desire premium picture quality. LG OLED TVs emit light from each pixel without a backlight, allowing for more delicate image expression. They are highly praised for their outstanding contrast ratio, black expression, and excellent viewing angles.

Omdia forecasts the OLED TV market to grow to a total of 5.6 million units this year, an increase of more than 60% compared to the previous year. LG Display, the only supplier of large OLED panels for TVs worldwide, announced plans to expand its OLED panel supply from about 4.5 million units last year to up to 8 million units this year. LG Electronics aims to achieve up to double growth in the OLED TV sector compared to last year.

Meanwhile, global TV shipments in the fourth quarter last year reached a record high quarterly shipment of approximately 70.242 million units due to the year-end peak season effects such as Black Friday. Annual shipments recorded a slight increase from the year before last despite the impact of COVID-19, reaching approximately 225.35 million units.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.