Two Chinese companies, Huawei and Xiaomi, will jump on the OLED TV bandwagon next year as LCD is slowly but steadily being abandoned.
Chinese OLED TVs
LG Display is currently the sole supplier of OLED TV panels to 15 companies. The group includes brands such as Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Skyworth, and of course LG Electronics.
Next year, the list of companies sourcing OLED TV panels from LG Display will grow. It has already been confirmed that Vizio will launch its first OLED TV next year, and Hisense is expected to expand its OLED TV line-up to the US.
Xiaomi now confirms that it is planning to adopt OLED panels for some of its TVs early next year and Korean media are reporting that Huawei will follow suit. The OLED TVs will be announced later so details and specifications are currently unknown.
Also read: LG Display to triple OLED production, add 48" 4K OLED & smaller 8K OLED
Vizio, Xiaomi, and Huawei are major players in the consumer electronics sector so this is good news for consumers as it will help boost competition. Some of the OLED TV panels are likely to come from LG Display's new production facility in Guangzhou, China. LG Display had planned to start mass production at the new facility this year but reports out of Korea claim that plans have been slightly delayed into next year.
- "I understand that LG Display cannot meet orders from corporate customers, so the company has to allocate a certain quantity to each of them, a display industry official told Business Korea.
Transition from LCD to OLED
The news come as the LCD TV market is starting to implode. Samsung Display, Panasonic, and LG Display are all either transitioning away from LCD panel production or ending production entirely.
Chinese LCD panel makers are taking over but it appears to be a short term effect. Analyst company IHS Markit expects investment into LCD to come to a complete halt in 2022, whereas investment into OLED will surge over the next five years.
- Source: Business Korea (2), ITHome
