LG Display Regains World No.1 Position, Surpassing China After One Year

Impact of Rapid Increase in OLED Product Sales

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] LG Display has reclaimed the world's number one market share in the TV display market, surpassing Chinese companies after more than a year. This is due to a surge in sales of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products.

According to market research firm Omdia on the 26th, LG Display's market share for TV displays (based on sales) in the fourth quarter of last year was 23.8%. As a result, it overtook the Chinese display company BOE (20.6%) and returned to the top position after one year.

Omdia analyzed that the increase in sales was due to a rapid rise in OLED product sales, especially in high-end TVs. In the fourth quarter of last year, LG Display's OLED TV panel sales reached 2.3 million units, surpassing 2 million units per quarter for the first time. During the same period, OLED TV panel sales revenue also increased by 28% year-on-year to $1.45 billion (approximately 1.8 trillion KRW).

Last year, the annual sales volume of OLED TV panels was recorded at 7.4 million units, a 65% increase compared to the previous year. Omdia forecasts that LG Display will maintain its number one position this year with a 23.9% market share in TV display sales. LG Display's annual OLED TV sales volume is expected to reach 10.01 million units.

OLED TVs have recently been growing rapidly, especially in the premium TV segment. According to Omdia's analysis, the share of OLED TVs in the premium TV market priced above $1,500 (based on sales) expanded from 26% in 2019 to 41% in the fourth quarter of 2021, and is expected to increase further to 42.1% this year.

LG Display plans to lead the "OLED mainstreaming" strategy starting this year by introducing the next-generation TV panel "OLED.EX," which increases screen brightness by 30% compared to existing OLEDs. Specifically, they plan to add the smallest 42-inch and the largest 97-inch OLED TV panels to complete a full lineup covering medium and extra-large sizes.

Currently, LG Display has a production system capable of producing a total of 170,000 units per month based on 8.5-generation OLED glass substrate input, with 80,000 units per month in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and 90,000 units per month in Guangzhou, China.

Meanwhile, global TV manufacturers that had previously avoided OLED are now rushing to produce OLED TVs. Until 2013, LG Electronics was the only company, but in recent years, major TV companies such as Japan's Sony and Panasonic, Europe's Bang & Olufsen, Philips, and Grundig have been entering the market one after another.

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