OLED as the Main Focus? ... Is Samsung TV Strategy Changing?

Samsung 8K TV Shipments Hit Lowest in 11 Quarters
Micro LED TV Hampered by High Prices

There appears to be a change coming to Samsung Electronics' TV business strategy. This is because the performance of Neo QLED and Micro LED TVs, which Samsung promotes as premium TVs, has been sluggish, making a breakthrough urgently needed. Meanwhile, demand for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs, which Samsung had previously said it would "never do," is steadily increasing, leading to speculation that Samsung's sales strategy will shift toward OLED TVs.

On the 6th, demand for 8K (resolution 7680×4320) TVs, including the flagship Neo QLED promoted by Samsung Electronics, remains weak. Samsung's TV lineup is broadly divided into Micro LED, Neo QLED, OLED, and QLED. Samsung has focused on QLED TVs with quantum dot (QD) film attached to liquid crystal display (LCD) panels instead of OLED, pushing Neo 8K OLED TVs as its main product.

2023 Neo QLED 8K.
[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

However, Omdia reported that global shipments of Samsung 8K TVs in the first quarter of this year were 46,797 units, the lowest in 11 quarters since the second quarter of 2020. This is about one-third of the 149,288 OLED TVs Samsung shipped in March last year after a 10-year hiatus. Omdia forecasts that global 8K TV shipments this year will be approximately 332,000 units, down more than 14% from the previous year, and will stagnate around 330,000 units until 2027. Omdia analyzed, "(The 8K TV market) is clearly failing to grow and appears to have peaked at the end of 2020."

Micro LED TVs have been hampered by their high price. The retail price of Samsung Electronics' 110-inch Micro LED TV is 170 million KRW, which is considered to have poor marketability. As a result, the number of units sold so far is reportedly only in the hundreds. According to figures compiled by Omdia, only 50 Micro LED TV panels were sold in 2021 and 40 in 2022. The number of sets sold is believed to be even lower.

In other words, Samsung Electronics now needs a new approach to capture the premium TV market, which is highly profitable and steadily growing. Given this situation, Samsung expanded its OLED TV lineup to 55, 66, and 77 inches this year and recently received radio certification for an 83-inch model. Samsung Display does not manufacture panels larger than 77 inches, so Samsung has even chosen to ally with LG Display. With increasing OLED TV demand, Samsung has decided it can no longer delay entering the market.

Omdia expects that the market share by value of OLED products in the global premium TV market priced above $1,500 will rise to 46.1% this year. The OLED share, which was 36.7% last year, is expected to increase by nearly 10 percentage points in just one year, approaching a majority. It is projected to grow to 53.5% in 2024, 60.8% in 2025, and 61.9% in 2026.

The issue is how to position OLED TVs. Samsung has long emphasized that QLED technology is superior to OLED. An industry insider commented, "It took Samsung 10 years to change its stance from 'never doing OLED,' but it is unlikely that OLED will be positioned higher than QLED. Nevertheless, Samsung will find it difficult to expand OLED TV sales."

A Samsung Electronics official explained, "OLED will be released as a model one step below the top-tier QD. The sales strategy will proceed in the order of Neo QLED followed by OLED."

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