Skyworth starts global expansion with wallpaper OLED TVs from $3600

At CES 2020, China's Skyworth announced that it will start its global expansion by launching its first 8K TV globally, including in the US, as well as wallpaper OLED TVs starting at $3600.

Global launch event at CES
Skyworth has been present at shows like CES and IFA for a few years now but 2020 marks the official start of its global expansion, the company announced. This includes the US.

- "Skyworth aims to become the brand that leads the consumer electronics market of the future, offering 8K TVs and flagship-level OLED TVs, among other differentiated products, that meet the demands of the growing middle class," said Tony Wang, President, Skyworth TV.



In 2020, the Chinese company will launch its first 8K LCD TV as well as wallpaper 4K OLED TVs.

The wallpaper OLED TV will be available in 65 and 77 inches as the W81 and W81 Pro. Skyworth says that W is short for "wonder" but its naming choice is more likely to be motivated by LG's W series. The good news is that Skyworth is planning to make its 4.6 mm thin wallpaper OLED TV more approachable than LG's, with starting prices of $3600 for the W81 and $4600 for th W81 Pro. It will be available in the US later this year.

The company explains that "a 21-inch secondary display on the W81 Pro, equipped with the Swaiot OS, shows always-on information such as time and weather, as well as real-time updates including IoT device responses". W81 also features 4K resolution, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos.



The OLED panel is manufactured by LG Display but Skyworth claims to be the first "Chinese manufacturer of OLED basic modules (OBM)", which may be what enables it to launch a wallpaper OLED before anyone else, other than LG. Skyworth is already selling OLED TVs, including wallpaper models, in China.

The company's US website now also lists more conventional 55 and 65-inch 4K OLED Android TVs for $1699 and $2699, respectively.


First 8K TV
The 8K TV will be available in 75 inches as the Q91 and based on an IPS LCD panel. Skyworth said that its SoC is capable of decoding video in up to 8K at 60fps but it did not comment on whether the TV has HDMI 2.1 or not.

The TV also features company's own video processor, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos through a built-in soundbar. In the US, it will be priced at $5999.

Besides the US, the two new premium TV series will be made "available globally", the company said.

Skyworth is one of several TV makers to introduce 8K and OLED TVs at CES. Konka and Vizio have also announced new OLED TVs for the US market.