Organic light emitting diodes (OLED) has gained more influence in the European premium TV market. Despite the stagnant global TV market, premium OLED TV sales growth continues.
Omdia, a market research firm, predicted that OLED TV sales share (in terms of units) will exceed 50% for the first time in the + $1,500 premium TV market in Europe. Its share significantly increased from 32% in 2019. Omdia expects that OLED TV will break through 55% in sales share this year and 66% next year.
Europe’s sales account for 23% of the global TV sales of 213.5 million units last year, which makes Europe the world's largest TV market. North America’s sales accounts for 22%. OLED TV sales are the largest in Europe, because European consumers prefers premium products, and they are able to afford those products. Around 2.9 million units of OLED TV were sold in Europe last year, which is 44% of the world’s OLED TV sales. Omdia predicts that 3.4 million units will be sold in Europe this year, a 17% increase over the previous year.
LG is leading the European OLED TV market. In the first quarter, the proportion of OLED TV sales in Europe were from LG Electronics, Sony, and Philips with 65.8%,17%, and 11%, respectively. LG Display dominates the market in OLED TV panels, and it supplies 90% of the world's OLED panels. OLED.EX, the next-generation TV panel, has been applied to all of LG’s lineups from the second quarter of the year. OLED.EX applied 'heavy hydrogen technology,’ which is the core of OLED image quality, to the organic light emitting device and 'personalization algorithm.’ It also improved the screen brightness (luminance) by 30% compared to the previous panel.
OLED TVs are expected to sell mainly in the European market in the second half of the year. Even amid global inflation, demand for premium products is expected to continue by high-income consumers who are not as affected by the economic situation. The Qatar World Cup occurring in November can lead to a rebound in TV sales in Europe, where many Europeans are soccer enthusiasts.
Black Friday
It is also expected that retailers and manufacturers, who had stagnant TV sales in the first half of the year, will be more active in selling high-margin premium products such as OLED with upcoming Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday.
Omdia adjusted its OLED TV sales volume from 4.09 million to 4.7 million units, an increase of 15% in the + $1,500 premium TV market this year. OLED sales share in the + $1,500 TV market is expected to increase from 39.8% to 44%.
Annual OLED TV sales were maintained at 8 million units as reported before. Omdia predicted that global OLED TV sales will increase from 6.5 million units last year to 8 million units this year and 9 million units next year.
[European market share of + $1,500 premium TV]
Source: Omdia
By Staff Reporter Dong-joon Kwon (djkwon@etnews.com)