Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) will likely back 40 percent of premium TVs sold this year, ascending to a mainstream for home screens with global shipments already topping 20 million units and pulling up the role of panel pioneer LG Electronics responsible for 60 percent of the shipments.

According to market tracker Omdia on Sunday, the total shipments of OLED TVs worldwide topped 20 million as of the end of March, a milestone achieved since OLED TV’s market debut in 2013. Global OLED shipments first exceeded the 10 million threshold in September 2020, seven years after the launch, but it took less than two years to reach 20 million to underscore the pickup in the OLED penetration.

Omdia forecast global OLED TV shipments will reach 20.358 million before the end of April.

OLED TV market has gained traction after the OLED industry has achieved economies of scale, according to market experts.

The industry churned out only 4,000 units of OLED TVs in 2013 when it was first launched, and it took more than three years to reach 1 million units. OLED TV production has expanded sharply thanks to the improved panel production yield.

LG Display, dominating the large OLED panel market for TVs, was able to up annual capacity 7.42 million from 4 million last year upon commencing mass production at its Guangzhou factory in China on top of its existing Paju Plant in Korea.

Its rival Samsung Display, which also started producing quantum-dot based OLED (QD-OLED) panels at the end of last year, expects its annual shipments of more than 10 million this year. More set makers have entered the OLED TV manufacturing market with 21 companies across the globe selling OLED TVs, which helps expand the overall OLED ecosystem.

OLED TV has become undeniable mainstream in the global premium TV market. According to Omdia, it will take 40 percent of the high-end market for TVs priced over $1,500. Its demand has grown as flicker-free OLED displays present better picture quality than liquid crystal display (LCD)-based displays like LEDs. LG Electronics shipped more than 4 million units of OLED TVs in 2021, accounting for 62 percent of the total global OLED TV shipments last year. LG Electronics is forecast to ship up to 5 million units of OLED TVs this year, according to market analysts.

The company raked in the biggest-ever 38.9 percent of its total TV sales from OLED TV sales in the fourth quarter last year, doubled from 20.4 percent in the fourth quarter 2019. The industry expects OLED TVs would top 40 percent in the company’s entire TV sales this year.

By Jung Yoo-jung and Jenny lee

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