LG plans to surpass Samsung in next-generation OLED TV competition

According to foreign media reports, South Korea's LG Electronics, which has been covered by Samsung for a long time, said that it is confident that it will surpass Samsung in the new-generation TV market competition and dominate the global market.

LG is the world’s second-largest TV maker after Samsung, and Ro Seog-ho, executive vice president of the company’s TV division, stated that “LG is slower than Samsung in launching new products, but will surpass Samsung in OLED TVs and win competition."

OLED TVs do not require backlights, so they are lighter, consume only 20% more energy than traditional flat-panel TVs, and provide a clearer picture. LG's OLED panel model, which measures 55 inches (140 cm) in width and measures only 0.16 inches (4 mm) in thickness, was named the best accessory at the Consumer Electronics Show in Los Angeles in January.

However, it is difficult for manufacturers to reduce costs when mass producing OLED panels.

LG and Samsung plan to start selling OLED TVs in the second half of this year, priced at more than 10,000 US dollars.

According to iSuppli, a market research company, OLED TV sales this year will reach 34,000, and it is expected to grow to 2.1 million by 2015.

Ro Seog-ho said, "LG's OLED technology will achieve large-scale production, the picture is more vivid and lower prices than Samsung. We will improve the panel's profitability will be faster than Samsung."

In June of this year, Japanese television giants Sony and Panasonic announced the cooperation in the development of OLED panels. Ro Seog-ho believes that it will take one to two years for both parties to introduce new OLED panels. He said, “The new products that consumers accept cannot be launched prematurely, but at the same time they cannot be launched too late when the market is saturated.”

LG expects all types of TV sales this year will reach 30 million units, up nearly 20% from 2011, of which 3D TVs account for about 10% of total sales. In the first quarter of this year, after two years of loss in the mobile phone division, LG made a transition.

Driven by sales of 3D TVs, LG’s home entertainment equipment division’s operating profit was 217.1 billion won and its overall profit was 448.2 billion won.

Ro Seog-ho said, “As the demand of emerging markets increases, the profitability of the home entertainment equipment sector will be similar in the first quarter of this year, and the European market will deteriorate faster than expected, but at the same time the growth in demand in emerging markets exceeds expectations. Among them, Latin America and the Middle East The market boosted sales growth. Sales in the countries of the former Soviet Union increased by approximately 50% to 60% from a year ago."

According to data released by market research company Display Search, global TV shipments in 2011 decreased for the sixth consecutive year, but shipments of 3D TVs in 2012 are expected to increase by 90%.